Binda Blinda: Back in Black
by Shiuta-san
Summary: Reo is living a normal human life, until Kurosaki Ichigo brings it crashing down. Thrown headlong into a war, Reo finds herself faced with a choice: Remember the life she lost, or be swept away in the violent tides of invasion. IchigoxOC
1. Eloquently Average

_..._

* * *

><p><strong>BACK IN BLACK<strong>

**-:-**

**CHAPTER I**

_"Kurosaki Ichigo... You will always find me."_

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><p>To the average person, Karakura Town was just like any other town; Boring, big and basically useless. Teenagers attended high school and the younger children played in parks. The adults got normal, boring jobs and the younger adults participated in the usual menial labor that was common among people of that general age group. Convenience stores were filled with the currently unemployed and the occasional vagabonds, and there was at least one wannabe gang, as was the norm for any suburban town. Yes, to the <em>average<em> person, Karakura seemed like just another _average_ town. But Reo had figured out long ago that Karakura was not your normal town. In fact, she seemed to be some sort of magnet that brought out anything and everything even remotely _unordinary _about this town. Although Reo was not so lucky as to be privy to the "general specifics" as she so eloquently called them, she could was usually able to draw her own conclusions about all the weird goings-on in downtown Karakura.

Despite simply being a normal teenager, Reo had often found herself to be the target of large, rather mean spirits. She had always managed to outrun them somehow, and had never before experienced a situation in which she found herself needing to fight one of them. She had also never found it necessary to tell her father about them, and her sister could always be counted on not to be too much of a blabbermouth, even though they were both almost one hundred percent sure that the man that they called "dad" was pretty well aware of what was up with Karakura Town. The man himself was as suspicious as they came, and Reo often wondered how he still looked as young as he did.

This, however, wasn't nearly the strangest that Reo had seen during her short sixteen years in Karakura Town. Although she was not really the kind of girl to pry, Reo sometimes found herself on the verge of asking her father about the people in black robes that she often saw jumping from the rooftops around their home. She saw them all the time, and even more recently she had spoken to one. Perhaps they were just some sort of weird cult- But the man she had spoken to... _Kurosaki Ichigo,_ he had called himself... Hadn't really seemed like someone in a cult. Reo had played dumb, asked if it was a dare, despite the fact that he had told her out-right that he was a Shinigami. He had actually _confessed_ to being a so-called God of Death.

Reo didn't know what it meant, and she wasn't even sure that she wanted to. But the more that she thought about it, the more she was inclined to believe that what Kurosaki Ichigo had told her was the complete and total truth; He was a Shinigami. Kurosaki Ichigo was not part of some elite cult of young adults that scaled the rooftops of Karakura in black robes and swords. He was a God of Death... If those sorts of things even existed. But what with all the strange things that Reo had personally witnessed over the years, she didn't find this possibility to be so far fetched.

Big grey eyes blinked, staring upwards in the direction of the usually cloudless sky. The weather in Karakura had taken a turn for the worse, as of late, but that didn't stop Reo from taking her usual route to school. Her sister Hiro usually refused to take it with her, as if took almost twice as long as all other routes, and Hiro was usually the one to drop off Kana at the nearby junior-high.

"You know, Kon, you don't have to keep walking with me to school..." she muttered, pursing her lips and casting her eyes in the direction of her currently silent walking partner. "I'm in high school, I think I'm old enough to walk by myself, now." Her brown-haired companion simply chuckled to himself, his long arms thrown behind his head in their usual lazy manner as he met her eyes for a moment.

Reo had known Kon for as long as she could remember- He lived with her and her father, after all. She often wondered how her father had started taking in homeless children; She had met two others, including Kon, though Kon was the only one who hadn't gotten his own apartment by now. If anyone else had known Kon, however, they would have known that this wasn't so wholly unexpected for the lecherous young man.

"But this way I get to see all the high school girls in uniform!" he replied happily, humming to himself simply at the thought of seeing so many girls. "Ah, the joys of high school~" Reo wasted absolutely no time in bashing the man who was as good as her older brother over the head with her school bag.

"Get a life, you creep, I wear that uniform, too." she said angrily, ignoring Kon's whines as he nursed the bump rising on the back of his head. "Go get a real job and a girlfriend your own age."

"R-Reo... Why are you so cruel to your Nii-san?"

"Because my Nii-san is a pathetic homeless loser," she teased, smiling broadly as Kon's pout deepened. At last she stopped walking, finally having reached the gates of Karakura High. Hiro was leaning up against the tall brick wall, looking as sour as usual, a cigarette held lazily between her lips as her eyes followed her two approaching siblings.

"Took you two long enough," she said, removing the cigarette from her mouth and releasing a puff of smoke from between her lips. Several high schoolers gave her looks of disapproval as they passed her on their way through the gates.

"You're not allowed to smoke on campus, Hiro." Reo chided. Before her twin could reply, Reo had snatched the death stick from her fingers and thrown it to the ground, stamping out the embers despite Hiro's shrill protests. "D'you want to get suspended again? Dad'll kill you,"

"That guy won't do shit, he's got the backbone of a jellyfish." Hiro replied snarkily. Kon was currently ignoring his two younger sisters, instead choosing to focus his attentions on the group of rapidly approaching school girls who's skirts were pulled up so high that, if the breeze was _just right,_ perhaps he could have seen their underwear.

"Don't talk about him like that," Reo whispered harshly. Her grey eyes narrowed in the direction of her younger twin, but Hiro simply ignored her and instead elbowed Kon in the gut.

"Put your eyes back in your head, you freak, your sisters wear that uniform."

"So Reo-chan has reminded me," Kon wheezed out, too preoccupied with clutching his injured stomach to drool over any more school girls. "We're not even related by blood, Hiro-chan~" he whined. Reo and Hiro both rolled their eyes in unison.

"Go get a job, Kon," Reo sighed. After patting her older brother on the head, Reo turned to follow Hiro through the gates of the high school, ignoring Kon as he called after them to "have a good day at school my darling little sisters". Reo simply ducked her head, determined to pretend like she didn't know him as all of the surrounding high schoolers cast annoyed glances in Kon's direction.

Reo sighed; For her, Karakura was _far_ from the average town.

* * *

><p>"This is all highly unorthodox, Kurosaki,"<p>

Kuchiki Byakuya's cloudy grey eyes met Kurosaki Ichigo's brown ones unflinchingly, his gaze calculating and suspicious as he stared at his fellow Captain from behind his desk. His hand still held the ink pen that he had been writing his report in, but it was no longer moving, the ink on the page drying swiftly as he continued to stare at the former Substitute Shinigami. Had Byakuya known that sending this man to the world of the living to do a simple investigation and clean up of some unusual Hollow activity would have lead to such a drastic change of heart, he never would have done so in the first place. He sighed; Byakuya highly doubted that the Captain Commander would be pleased with this unpleasant turn of events.

"I _know_, you've said it three times already," Ichigo muttered, knitting his eyebrows together in frustration. Byakuya pursed his lips, not at all liking the way that Ichigo spoke to him with such... Familiarity. It certainly wasn't appropriate for this situation, not that it was ever very appropriate.

"Frankly, I am not the one that you should speak to about such things." Byakuya said seriously, at last placing his pen on his desk top and folding his hands together in front of his face in an almost pensive gesture. "Terminating your position as Captain is not-"

"I'm not terminating it, I'd simply like for Kira to take over for a while," Ichigo interjected. He had thought that Byakuya, of all people, would be able to grasp this idea quickly enough. Clearly he had been mistaken. "He's done it before, it won't be any trouble."

"_Won't be any trouble_," Byakuya repeated disbelievingly, his grey eyes hardening as they met Ichigo's eyes directly yet again. "I do not think that you grasp the gravity of what it is you're asking, Kurosaki."

"I do-"

"You want to temporarily shed your responsibilities as a Captain of the Gotei Thirteen to chase after a human girl, isn't that correct?" Byakuya said, cutting Ichigo off before he could even begin. "Like father like son, I suppose..."

"She's _not_ just a human, this is Leona we're talking-"

"That doesn't change anything, Kurosaki, and if anything it makes this situation even more unorthodox." Byakuya continued, not caring at all as Ichigo shot daggers in his direction with his eyes. "After all, are you even sure that this is Leona? It takes years for someone to be reincarnated, lifetimes, even,"

"Yeah, and it's been_ years._" Ichigo interjected. For a moment Byakuya paused, seeing his point but not really caring.

"That aside, I find it very unlikely that both Hiori and Leona were reincarnated together, and if what you say is true, even the girl Kanna has been reincarnated along with them." Byakuya said, repeating the words that Ichigo had spoken to him upon his return from the human world. "Do you realize how unlikely it is for something like that to occur?"

"Yeah. But it did."

"You are letting your emotions run away with you."

"So?" Ichigo retorted, his frustration evident in his tone. "You're telling me that if you found Hisana up there you wouldn't go after her?"

This seemed to strike a chord within Byakuya. He paused, staying silent, his grey eyes fixed on Ichigo, who was rapidly beginning to regret the turn the conversation had taken. He couldn't tell if Byakuya was angry or not, but his silence didn't bode very well for anyone, ever. After a deep breath, Byakuya finally spoke again.

"Do not bring her into this, Kurosaki." he said seriously, unlacing his fingers and placing his hands palms-down on the top of his desk. "That is not the current situation; Let us leave the hypothetical aside, for now."

"Byakuya-"

"Do you even understand the gravity of this request?" Byakuya said, barreling onwards and ignoring Ichigo's attempts to speak up. "To return to the human world in a Gigai after all these years... Abandoning your position as Captain, all for the sake of a girl who may not even exist anymore..."

"She does." Ichigo said, clenching his teeth together, his jaw setting seriously as he stared straight at Byakuya. "She's there. I saw her, I _felt-_"

"I understand that... But this is very serious, Kurosaki... Very serious..."

"I'll be back." Ichigo replied, standing up and clenching his fists. "Just give me a few weeks- A month. Anything. And if I can't make her remember me, I'll come back and resume my duties as Captain."

"And if she does?" Byakuya inquired, arching a dark eyebrow skeptically as he locked eyes with the young Captain yet again. "If this supposed reincarnation of Hitsugaya Leona _does_ come to remember you, what will you do?"

For a long while Ichigo stayed silent, his eyes falling to the floor as he searched his mind for an answer. Despite his efforts, none came. He didn't know what he would do. Would he stay with her in the human world? Bring her back here? Leave her there and return to Soul Society? He honestly hadn't thought it out that far, and he wasn't sure how he would even react if she showed any signs of remembering him. He didn't know what he would say, or what he would do, only that he wanted... No, he _needed_ for her to remember him.

"... I thought so." Byakuya said stiffly. "Take this time in the human world to get your priorities straight, Kurosaki. That is my advice." Ichigo nodded, showing that he understood. After another pause, he spoke again.

"... Should I take Toshiro with me?"

"_Captain_ _Hitsugaya_, I think, should maybe be kept in the dark on this matter, for now." Byakuya said seriously, picking up his pen once more from the top of his desk. "I myself am not entirely convinced that this is truly his sister reincarnated, and I refuse to be the one to get his hopes up only to have them crushed yet again."

"_Yet again_," Ichigo repeated, raising his eyebrows slightly at what these words implied. "What do you mean by that?"

"Surely you've noticed Captain Hitsugaya's frequent trips to Rukongai and to the world of the living." Byakuya said, the words more of a statement than an inquiry. "He has been doing this for the last eighteen years, at least. Don't tell me that you overlooked it?" Ichigo remained silent. He _had_ overlooked it, but he wasn't about to give Byakuya the satisfaction of hearing it. So he stayed silent, waiting for Byakuya to finish writing his report before continuing the conversation.

"So I have your permission, then?" Ichigo said curtly as Byakuya set his pen down once more. Byakuya shut his eyes, but only for a moment, as if he knew that he may come to regret this decision entirely.

"Yes." Byakuya replied at last. "I will inform Lieutenant Izuru of your temporary defection, and he will take over your duties as Captain for the time being. I will make up some excuse for your absence... They may be angry with both of us if they knew this was all because of a girl."

* * *

><p>"... It's him."<p>

"What?"

"_Him._" Reo repeated, pointing towards the counter of the convenience store. Hiro narrowed her eyes, squinting towards the person that her sister was pointing to. His bright orange hair stood out against the white walls of the building, and he looked to be a considerable amount older than both her and her twin. She frowned, folding her arms and taking out her carton of cigarettes as she pondered the person towards which Reo was pointing.

"And he would be...?"

"He's that guy with the sword." Reo muttered, crouching behind the shelf of candy in the corner. "Remember? The weird one that you wouldn't talk to?"

"Oh... Yeah, sure." Hiro muttered, rolling her eyes and walking towards the door. "Look, if you're not buying anything can we just go? This is a big fat waste of time."

Reo shot a heated glare in her sister's direction, but said absolutely nothing. Something about this guy just seemed... Off. He wasn't normal. Whether he was in a gang, or he really was a Shinigami, Reo could only make guesses. But her gut told her that this Kurosaki Ichigo character was not just your average Karakura citizen, and that feeling intrigued her as much as it scared her. She wondered what he would say if she marched straight up to him and demanded the truth; No sooner had she thought of it, however, did she shake the ridiculous thought from her mind. If he_ was _in a gang, he might beat her up, and she really didn't need that.

Suddenly Reo blinked, realizing that she had been spacing out for several minutes straight. Looking back in the direction of the cash register, Reo was disappointed to find that Kurosaki Ichigo had vanished altogether, and now only her loud-mouthed sister stood by the counter. Reo frowned, realizing that she was indeed flirting with the twenty-something year old behind the counter. She made a face, sticking out her tongue at her sister's back; Hiro was absolutely shameless when it came to boys, and Reo doubted that if Hiro really wanted to, she would even go after Kon, despite him being more of a brother than a friend. Reo shivered. Hiro was absolutely shameless.

"Hey," a gruff voice said from behind her, and Reo froze. She didn't even move when her short burgundy hair fell into her eyes. This was _not_ happening. "Isn't it a little forward to be stalking me after only meeting once?" With a small 'eep' Reo jumped up from her crouching position behind the shelves and turned to face the person behind her. Grey eyes met light brown, and despite herself, Reo uttered the one word that she had been thinking about all day.

"_Shinigami!_" she whispered, pointing at the orange-haired man in an accusatory manner. The man blinked, his hands stuffed into his pockets and looking very devil-may-care, though Reo herself wasn't confident enough to voice this thought. After an awkward pause, he laughed, and Reo blinked. This guy puzzled her, that was for sure.

"I thought I told you that was a dare," he replied calmly, keeping his hands in his pockets. A plastic bag hung at his wrist, and through the white plastic Reo could barely make out several different kinds of chocolate bars.

"Yeah, I know." she said curtly, folding her arms and straightening her body. Even though she was pretty tall for her age, she didn't even come close to this man's height. He must have been more than six feet tall, and she was only five foot eight. "Should a guy your age really be eating all that chocolate?"

"A guy my age?" he repeated, laughing as he spoke. "How old d'you think I am?" Reo opened her mouth, only to close it shut an instant later. She wanted to think this answer through slowly. He looked not a day over twenty one, but she knew that couldn't be true. Something in his eyes told her that he was much older than that. Parting her lips, she prepared herself to answer.

"Reo!" Hiro's voice broke through the intense moment, and Reo almost jumped. She heard the man laugh; It was a rumbling sound deep within his chest. She ignored this, however, turning away from the orange haired man to stare at her sister. "C'mon you retard, we gotta get home!" Reo cast her eyes on Kurosaki Ichigo one last time, and without another word, she followed her sister out of the convenience store. Ichigo sighed, letting his eyes follow Reo until she vanished around the corner.

"... Damn..."

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><p>"Kurosaki-kun?"<p>

Inoue Orihime's eyes were wide when she opened the door to her apartment. After all, how is one supposed to react when the man who you thought had left the world of the living behind forever suddenly shows up on your doorstep after almost twenty years? After a lengthy pause in which the two old friends locked eyes for what seemed like forever, Orihime stepped away from the door, gesturing for Ichigo to come inside. The orange-haired man nodded, stuffing his fists into the pockets of his black jacket as he removed his shoes and stepped over the threshold.

"Is Ishida here?" he muttered, stretching his arms over his head tiredly before slumping into one of the white modern-styled chairs that surrounded Orihime's dinner table. Orihime shook her head swiftly, not sitting down but simply staring at Ichigo, who was acting as though showing up here all of a sudden was an entirely normal situation.

"He... He's at work right now." she said, setting down the towel that she had been holding and making her way into the kitchen.

For a long while, the two were silent, Orihime not really knowing what to say as Ichigo looked around her apartment. It was different than the last time he had seen it. But, then again, what had he expected? He had known that she and Ishida had moved in together many years ago. He shouldn't have expected for everything to remain exactly the same. Ichigo sighed, rubbing his eyes as if he were completely exhausted, and Orihime bit her lips nervously as she set a cup of coffee in front of him. After another pause, Orihime chose to sit down at the table, directly across from where Ichigo was sitting. Her thin fingers tapped against the side of her own coffee cup nervously, her light brown eyes searching Ichigo's face for any unspoken answers. When she found none, she chose to start conversation, desperate for any sort of explanation.

"... Is that a Gigai that you're in?" she asked tentatively. Ichigo nodded, making a noise in the back of his throat but saying nothing. Orihime glanced downward, suddenly finding the dark surface of her coffee exceedingly interesting. "W-why... Is something wrong? Is something... Bad... Happening? Because Ishida and I... And Chad, we can all-"

"Nothing's wrong, Inoue." Ichigo sighed, taking a long sip of his coffee. When he placed the cup on the table again, he continued. "There's no situation... I'm back on my own."

"Oh..." she whispered, meeting Ichigo's eyes for the first time in a while. "Why?"

"Leona's back." he replied. Orihime coughed and spluttered, choking on her coffee when Ichigo said this. He waited, his eyes calm as he watched Orihime mop up all the coffee she had spilled across her white kitchen table. At last she met his eyes again, her own brown eyes wide with a mixture of astonishment and confusion. "Yeah... If I'd been drinking that probably would've been my reaction, too."

"I-I... How? I don't... She's _back?_"

"Yeah... She's been reincarnated." Ichigo replied. He rubbed his eyes, sighing heavily as he did so. Orihime's eyes softened; He was so tired. Ichigo tried so hard for others... He always had. She hadn't seen much of him in the last twenty years, but she felt that nothing had changed at all; Despite herself, she could feel butterflies in her stomach, and her cheeks were heating up much too rapidly for her liking. "But she basically ran away from me today..."

"You've talked to her?" Orihime just barely disguised the hint of jealousy in her voice. She had to think of Ishida... It had been twenty years, after all...

"Just twice," Ichigo muttered, lacing his fingers together and resting his chin on the backs of his hands. "I guess I thought it would just be like old times... I guess it'll take longer than I thought."

"Kurosaki-kun, could I say something?" Orihime whispered nervously. Her eyes were once again fixed on her coffee, and she could feel her heart beating in her throat. Only when she heard Ichigo grunt in the back of his throat did she continue. "It may never be the same again, Kurosaki-kun."

"What?"

"Kurosaki-kun..." Orihime continued, her eyes softening as she raised them to look into Ichigo's eyes. "Leona-chan... Leona-chan is dead. She _died_ twenty years ago this Saturday... And she isn't coming back."

"Inoue, listen-"

"No, Kurosaki-kun. I'm sorry, but even if she has been reincarnated, she won't be the same." Orihime murmured. Ignoring Ichigo's distressed expression, Orihime barreled onwards. "Even if it is her soul, _she'll_ be different. Because she isn't_ Leona_ anymore. She's someone else, and this is a new life for her."

"Inoue-"

"Leona is _dead_, Kuro-"

"Don't you think I know that?" Ichigo bellowed, standing up quickly. The chair scraped against the floor of Orihime's apartment, and Orihime couldn't help but jump at the sudden onslaught of noises that were meeting her ears. "... Sorry, Inoue..." he whispered.

His chest was heaving, and Orihme could only watch as he struggled to calm himself down and catch his breath. Orihime had never been easily scared of Ichigo, save for when he was Hollowfied, but that was understandable. She was quite certain that even Uryuu feared Ichigo in that form. But she had never seen Ichigo look this desperate- It was as if he needed for Orihime's words to be lies, or he would break. Orihime pursed her lips, saying nothing as Ichigo walked towards the door.

"It was nice to see you again, Kurosaki-kun." Orihime whispered.

"Yeah," he muttered, "You, too."

* * *

><p>The sun was slowly setting over Karakura Town. Ichigo's eyes were narrowed towards the ground, watching as his shoes hit one pebble after another, sending it flying far in front of him. He had thought that his visit with Orihime would encourage him, but it had done the opposite. With Rukia still in Soul Society for the next few days, Orhime had been the one person that he had thought that he could go to about this situation- At lest, the emotional side of the situation, anyways. Clearly, he had been mistaken. But that didn't mean that there was no one he could talk to about the logic behind the situation with Reo.<p>

The familiar yellow letters that adorned the roof of Urahara Shop were quickly coming into view, and Ichigo sighed in relief. It would be good to see a familiar face who wouldn't constantly remind him that Leona was dead, and Ichigo could only hope that Urahara Kisuke would live up to that expectation. The soles of his shoes scuffed against the sand that surrounded the Urahara Shop, and he quickly found himself nibbling anxiously on the corner of one of the many chocolate bars that he had purchased less than an hour ago.

Ichigo paused, his hand raised to the closed doors of Urahara Shop. Perhaps this wouldn't be what he was looking for... But it was worth a shot. Summoning what little patience he had left, Ichigo knocked on the front doors of the shop. After a moment, Ichigo could hear scuffling from within the shop, the footsteps stopping just in front of him. Another pause, and Ichigo backed away from the doors as they slid open.

Ichigo quickly found himself almost choking on the chocolate in his mouth.

"_Shinigami!_"

Large grey eyes met light brown for the second time that day. The familiar red head stood in the middle of the doorway, baring Ichigo from entering the shop, not that he would have wanted to, now. What was Reo doing there? The two continued to stare at each other in shocked silence, Reo's cloudy eyes wide in surprise while Ichigo continued to cough and splutter on his chocolate.

"Dad!" Reo called nervously, her expression hesitant as she watched Ichigo wheeze, still struggling to dislodge the chocolate from deep within his throat. "Dad! I think someone's here to see you!" Through his coughing, Ichigo heard footsteps approach quickly before stopping just beside of Reo. Ichigo's brown eyes widened; He would recognize those wooden sandals anywhere.

"Well, well!" said a familiar voice- The voice that unmistakably belonged to the only man in Karakura who would wear such ridiculous footwear. "It's been quite a while, Kurosaki-san!"

"Re- You... You _know_ him?" Ichigo gasped, pointing from where he was still crouched close to the ground, holding his chest in pain. He had coughed so much that he had a sore throat. Reo blinked, and was now looking at him as if he were the single most stupid person in the entire world.

"Yeah," she replied, making a face and exchanging glances with Urahara.

"I'm... Urahara Reo. This is my dad."

* * *

><p><strong>Yes, I did it! After much pondering and researching of the Bleachverse, I have decided to write a sequel <em>and<em> final conclusion to Binda Blinda. Lots of my readers were clamoring for Ichigo and Leona/Reo's happy ending, and I have to say that I'd love to write it. So here we have chapter one of Back in Black, the sequel to Binda Blinda!**

**To explain this briefly, for those of you who didn't read the temporary notice at the end of Binda Blinda:**

**This story is basically an adaptation of the anime-only Invading Army filler arc. Reo, Hiro and Kana will all be following along with all the canon characters of this filler arc, and the plot will change a lot because of that. I'm hoping that this will make sense, but really I think that it makes more sense now than it did as a filler arc, just because it was placed right after Ichigo lost his powers, so... That didn't make any sense to me, ever. But I thought the plot to this arc was very interesting and original, and I really wanted to use it. So this is basically the same arc, but twenty years later.**

**In this chapter, I basically round out Reo and Hiro's characters, as well as reintroduce some old ones. We see that Kon has been given a gigai, which will just be explained more next chapter, as well as his relationship with Reo, Hiro and Kana. Reo also bumps into Ichigo several more times, and- BIG CLIFFHANGER ENDING, Urahara is her adoptive father. More details and explanations to come next chapter, and I'm hoping to be able to have a lot more IchigoxReo/Leona fluff in this story than in Binda Blinda. Please review and tell me what you think!**


	2. Daughters of a Shady Businessman

_..._

* * *

><p><strong>BACK IN BLACK<strong>

_"Nagaretsuita sono basho de hito wa nani o omou no darou."_

**CHAPTER II**

* * *

><p>Anyone who had ever met Urahara Kisuke would avidly agree that he was one shady son of a bitch. He acted weird, he dressed weird, and he spoke weird. No one ever really knew the reasons behind anything he did, or why he bothered to do anything in the first place. But Ichigo highly doubted that anyone would have guessed that he would have a daughter- Or <em>three<em>, as the case may have been. He had never really pegged the sketchy back-alley store-owner as the family type, despite having been the caretaker of both Ururu and Jinta. Everyone knew that Ururu and Jinta were not his kids, despite them being just as questionable as Urahara himself, if not more so. Despite all of this shady activity, Ichigo never could have, or _would_ have, predicted _this_, of all things.

"He's... He's your _what?_" Ichigo choked out at last. Even though it was the very last place that he wanted to look just now, he couldn't help but meet Reo's eyes full-force. Deep within their foggy depths, he could see exactly what this girl thought of him; He was rude, forward, and annoying. That was how she saw him. Ichigo felt his heart fall ever so slightly. However he had imagined her opinion of him, it certainly hadn't been this.

"My dad." Reo repeated, raising her eyebrows. Ichigo frowned as she looked to Urahara, who smiled and patted her shoulder in an uncharacteristically fatherly way. Urahara Kisuke wasn't a _father._ There was absolutely no way in hell hat-and-sandals was a father. "What're you doing here?"

"Uh... I... Well..." Ichigo stammered, his eyes traveling back and forth between Urahara and his 'daughter' so fast that he felt that his eyeballs might pop out. "I just... Urahara,"

"By all means, come in Kurosaki-san." Urahara said jovially.

Reo gave him a look, which he ignored and instead ruffled her choppy burgundy locks. Reo's stormy eyes followed every movement Ichigo made, studying his lithe form as he passed over the threshold, entering the Urahara Shop for the first time in many months. The reassuring nod that Urahara gave to Reo did not go unmissed by Ichigo, who's frown deepened to some degree, especially when Reo's expression changed from one of alarm and suspicion to complete calm and trust. But it wasn't trust for him; It was trust for Urahara Kisuke. It was trust for her father, and deep in her eyes Ichigo could still see that she viewed him as someone to be wary of. His heart fluttered again- How had _Urahara_, of all people, ended up the person that she trusted the most? That had been Ichigo, all those years ago. Maybe Orihime had been right... Leona was never coming back.

"So... What can I do for you, Kurosaki-san?" Urahara asked.

His tone was as business-like as it could be, which for Urahara was not so business-like. Yet another look to Reo, and the door to the room was shut, baring the redhead from sight, preventing her from hearing anything that might have been said. Ichigo paused; He didn't have any idea how to approach this situation. He didn't know what to say. Even though Reo had closed the door and walked away, somehow he was still worried that anything that he may decide to say would somehow get back to her. The last thing he needed was for her to think that he and her father were not on good terms... But saying that they were on "good terms" right now would have been a bit of a stretch, to say the least.

"Urahara..." Ichigo murmured, seating himself on the floor, across the table from Urahara. The blonde man was still smiling, his eyes mostly concealed beneath the brim of his hat. "This... Urahara..."

"Go ahead."

"What the _fuck_ is this?" Ichigo hissed. He was struggling with all his might to keep his voice low, but what little self control he had obtained as a Captain of the Gotei Thirteen was quickly slipping out of his grasp. "What the hell have you been doing here? How are _you_ a dad? This is... Leona, she-"

"Her name is _Reo_, Kurosaki-san." Urahara stated blandly, seeming to be completely unfazed by all of Ichigo's words, save for this one. The name "Leona" somehow made him defensive. Ichigo back peddled; _That_, of all things, was what made Urahara get all defensive on him? "I assumed she had told you. Perhaps I was mistaken?"

"No, she told me, but I-"

"Then let us call my daughter by her name, shall we?" he said, interrupting Ichigo mid-sentence.

Ichigo's eyes widened, and for several minutes he stayed completely silent. He didn't know what to say... Again. How to react, how to approach the situation. All of it was a complete and utter mystery to him. There was absolutely no way that Leona could be Urahara's _daughter_... Right? The man hardly attracted women, what with his sandals and his hat and just the general sketchy aura that the shady store owner had always put off. This, however, brought yet another question to light- Who was Reo's mother?

"Now, what brings you here today, Kurosaki-san?"

"Never mind that, what I want to know is what happened to Le... Reo." Ichigo said, stammering as he corrected himself. "Urahara, you have a ton of explaining to do." At this statement, however, Urahara simply laughed.

"I have absolutely no obligations to fulfill your demands, Kurosaki-san." he chortled, waving his fan in front of his face in his usual flirtatious manner. Ichigo's heart skipped a beat; Leona had never missed an opportunity to make fun of that. "What I have been up to for the past twenty years is not your business. I am a businessman, and if there is anything you wish to purchase here- Say, a Gikongan*****,"

"If money'll buy me an explanation, then yeah, I'll buy something from you."

"I'm afraid not, Kurosaki-san." Urahara said, folding his hands carefully in front of him after placing his fan delicately on the tabletop. His voice was no longer relaxed- Ichigo could sense that he was rapidly becoming less and less accommodating to his incessant questions. "Details on my personal life are not up for sale. If they were, I would have written an autobiography and sold it by now. There's much more money in that," Ichigo frowned. Now he was being just plain difficult.

"Well, then... I was coming to discuss the situation with Le-Reo." Ichigo said, catching himself once again before saying Leona's name. He saw Urahara's expression twitch, and his frown deepened. "But, clearly, that's not possible. I guess I can't count on you, either."

"I guess not." Urahara replied, his voice monotonous. For a while both men were silent, neither wishing to make eye contact or break the heavy silence. At last, Urahara spoke, his voice once again returning to its usual lighthearted tone. "So, I've heard that you were promoted to Captain."

"Let's not do this, Urahara."

"No, let's. That's quite an accomplishment- I worked many, many years to get that position, as well." he said, staring off into the distance fondly as if reminiscing. Ichigo's lips twitched back into a frown for merely a second before he replied.

"You can go back, you know." he informed him. Urahara raised his eyebrows. "Most of the Vizards have come back. Rose is even in my division,"

"Yes, I've heard that, as well." Urahara replied. A heavy sigh escaped his lips before he continued. "But I have a life here. This works for me. I like my shop and these children. Well, most of them. Kon is a bit of a handful, but-"

"Wait, _what_?"

Before either one of them could progress any further with the conversation, however, a loud crash was heard from beyond the doors, causing both men to jump a little. A second crash was heard, along with the sound of several boxes toppling over, which was accompanied by a yelp that sounded distinctly male. Another moment's silence, and Ichigo was about to dismiss it as the wind knocking over boxes- Before he heard the yelling.

"_God dammit,_ Kon!" Reo's voice was shrill, carrying through the double doors that block Urahara and Ichigo from the rest of the shop. "Where the hell have you been?"

"I caught him skulking around school," said a second voice. It was very similar to Reo's, but a little deeper. More malicious. Ichigo pursed his lips; He recognized it. "Can you believe he actually chased some of the girls from school? You realize that it was your turn to pick up Kana, don't you?"

"But Hiro~" Kon's voice sounded exactly the same, and Ichigo couldn't help but laugh. "Wait... Who's here?"

"Some weird friend of dad's." Reo responded. Urahara chuckled as Ichigo's face fell a considerable amount.

"What does he look like?"

"Orange hair. Tall. Attractive if he wasn't so creepy. But that's how all of dad's friends are,"

Ichigo and Urahara's eyes met briefly, and the expression on the older man's face told him that he should brace himself for what was undoubtedly coming. Kon was Kon, after all, no matter how many years it had been. A third crash told Ichigo that his prediction was not wrong, and a second later an unfamiliar-looking boy burst through the locked doors, breaking the wooden handles in the process. Ichigo flinched; Aside from his appearance, he hadn't changed one little bit.

"ICHIGO!" Kon yelled.

His body slammed into the ground full force, Ichigo having dodged his tackle rather easily. From behind the broken doors, he saw two identical pairs of eyes staring at him, Kon and their beloved father. He could only imagine how ridiculous they all must look. Groaning, Kon sat back up, sporting a bloody nose and a hand-shaped bruise on his arm, but Ichigo suspected that it was no doubt Reo who had put it there.

"I-Ichigo... I was gonna hug you!"

"I know."

"Then why-"

"I don't want you to hug me," Ichigo said, shrugging simply before standing up. Kon looked hurt, but Ichigo shook it off easily. Even as a stuffed lion, Kon had never been able to master the infamous puppy-dog look that many girls, Orihime included, pulled off so easily. Maybe it was because he was a perverted Mod Soul. No... That was _definitely_ it.

"Nii-san, you know him?" Reo asked, her expression skeptical as her eyes darted between her father, her brother, and Ichigo, who was now gaping.

"_Nii-san?_" he repeated, pointing at Kon, a look of disgust on his face. "Absolutely _not._"

"Well, no, not by blood." Reo replied, pursing her lips and glaring at the orange haired man. "You know, for a stranger, you're awfully rude."

"This guy is not who you think he is," Ichigo said, still pointing to Kon, who was now sporting an impressive pout. "I mean, he is _not_ 'Nii-san' material."

"Oh, no doubt. That guy's a pathetic homeless loser, but I still grew up with him." Reo replied. From beside her Hiro was snickering, taking in Kon's bruised face and equally bruised pride with glee. "Also he's a pervert. But you're kind of a creep, and you're still my dad's friend, so-"

"_Dad_ is kind of a creep," Hiro interject. It was now Urahara's turn to pout.

"That hurts, Hiro-chan." he said, his fan once again in place in front of his mouth. Reo frowned as he waved it back and forth.

"Don't do that, dad, it makes you look girly."

Despite all of the chaos, Ichigo could only laugh. There was no doubt in his mind that this was Leona. She spoke like her, she looked like her, she acted like her... She felt like her. So why did she dislike him so much? He had thought their first meeting had gone rather well, despite him having been wearing strange black robes and carrying a large and possibly illegal sword around with him.

"Right..." Reo said, giving Ichigo a look. "Well, we're gonna go pick up Kana. Our idiot Nii-san left her alone at school."

"I'm sure Kana-chan can find her way home." Urahara replied, still waving his fan flirtatiously in front of his face.

"Doubtful, that girl has no internal compass."

"Directionally challenged." Reo said, nodding in agreement with her twin's previous statement.

With that, the pair of redheads exited the shop, leaving a frazzled Ichigo with the injured Kon and the humming Urahara. An awkward tension soon fell over the whole group, and Ichigo was quickly coming to terms with the fact that he would absolutely have to down at least a bottle of Sake to get over this whole horrible ordeal. Kon, however, wasted no time with bombarding Ichigo with words.

"Ichigo, what're you doing here?" he began, pushing himself off of the ground swiftly. His shaggy brown hair was covering another bruise on his forehead, probably obtained from falling face-first onto the wood floors. "I mean, why? What's taken you so long? Oh, I've got so much to tell you! Y'know, this guy- Oh, man, Ichigo, you better thank him for taking care of Reo and Hiro and Kana, because they-"

Urahara chose this time to clear his throat rather loudly. Kon ceased to speak, his brown eyes wide as he turned to face the flustered man on the other side of the table. His fan was now closed, showing that he was serious. Through the shadow cast by the brim of his hat, Ichigo could see the threatening stare that he was now sending in Kon's direction. It wasn't even directed at him, and he had chills crawling down his spine. He figured that Reo, Hiro and Kana at least must never act out, because if _that_ look was what they got as punishment, he doubted they'd ever want to get into trouble.

"Kon." Urahara said, speaking slower than Ichigo had ever heard him speak. The man paused, chewing over his words carefully before continuing. "Go find Reo and the others. It's getting late, and I don't feel comfortable with them out by themselves." he continued.

His tone was no less threatening, and Ichigo could almost hear Kon gulp in fear. Urahara's eyes then traveled to Ichigo himself, settling on the orange haired Shinigami before finishing his instructions.

"Kurosaki-san was just leaving. You can see him out." Kon nodded, turning away from the blonde businessman and gesturing towards Ichigo to follow him. "Oh, and Kon?" Urahara blurted, causing Kon to stop mid stride, his fingers curling around the broken door when he stopped walking. Urahara's tone was icy and dangerous- And Ichigo didn't like it one bit.

"_Silently._"

* * *

><p>"Go get the groceries, Kon. Go get a job, Kon. Don't tell Ichigo, Kon. Look after your sisters, Kon."<p>

A frustrated Kon shuffled down the sidewalk, his hands stuffed into his pockets. His brown eyes were turned towards the ground, glowering at his feet angrily. It was a look that he had wished to give to Urahara, but he wasn't so brave as to speak out against him. After all, he was the one who was taking care of them all. He didn't want to mess that up; Not for himself, and certainly not for Reo and the others. That was the last thing those girls needed.

Currently, Kon was a little less than two blocks away from Kana's school. Karakura Junior High was a little farther from Urahara Shop than the high school that Reo and Hiro attended, but Kon had never been one for taking the long way. Reo enjoyed it, but Kon found that he much preferred walking past the empty parking lots and sketchy back alleys; Creepy, but well worth it for the time it saved to get where he was going. Turning right, Kon made his way swiftly through the parking lot, still muttering to himself as he walked.

Without any warning, Kon let out a loud yelp. With a thud he landed on the ground, hitting the surface face-first for the second time that day. The brown haired man groaned loudly; His nose was probably broken by now, there was no doubt, and he wasn't sure just how much more of a beating his fragile face could take. After a considerable amount of swearing, Kon gathered his bearings and attempted to stand up.

"What the hell did I even- _Oh._"

Kon's eyes widened as they fell on the object over which he had tripped. Blood trickled over his lips, the red liquid streaming out of his nose a little too heavily, but Kon ignored it. His breathing was uneven, and he could feel fear and maybe even bile rising in his throat. He wasn't sure what he was looking at, but he was about eighty percent sure that it was a body. Whether that body was alive or not, only time would tell. As slowly as he possibly could, as if any sudden movements would make the situation even worse than it already was, Kon crouched down low to the ground.

One of his trembling hands reached out for the hand that was protruding out of the folds of grey cloth that covered said body. Kon gulped audibly, not entirely sure what he would do if the person was, indeed, dead. Closing his eyes, Kon mustered up what little courage he had and pulled back the sheet; His cheeks grew red less than half a second later.

The body- No, the girl. It was definitely a girl. And Kon knew without a doubt that it was a girl because... Well, because she was completely nude. Her deep green hair fanned out around her face. Her eyes were closed, a peaceful expression on her face, and she was definitely breathing. But none of this interested Kon- He was mostly too wrapped up in seeing breasts to really care if she was alive or dead or whatever he had been so worried about less than two minutes ago. This temporary feeling of peace was swiftly chased away, however, when three familiar, as well as severely disapproving, voices cut through the stunned silence that had previously enveloped him.

"_Kon!"_

The voices of Kon's three younger sisters met his ears, shocking his already very stunned system. He whipped around, looking in the direction of the noise instinctively. His face was still red, and his head was spinning, but he would recognize those three faces even if he was surrounded by hundreds of naked women. Kon's previous feeling of happiness evaporated like water in the desert.

"Oh... R-Reo... Hiro..." he muttered, his voice shaking, his nervousness exposing itself. "... K... Kana..."

The three girls of the Urahara family were all wearing identical expressions- Even the one who _wasn't_ a twin looked exactly the same. Each girl's jaw was set in a stern manner, her eyebrows furrowed, a deep frown turning her lips downward. All their arms were crossed, and their hands were balled into fists. Kon gulped. By the end of this, he figured the blood still pouring from his nose would be the least of his worries.

* * *

><p>Darkness settled over Karakura Town more quickly than Ichigo had wanted. The orange haired man sighed, frowning at the clock while he poured himself a glass of water. After gulping down most of it, Ichigo turned and sat down at the kitchen table, the half empty glass still clutched in his fingers. Staring at the glass, Ichigo couldn't help but feel that it described his life perfectly right about now. <em>Half empty.<em>

He didn't care if that made him a pessimist, because right then he was feeling pretty damn pessimistic. Nothing had gone according to plan. Orihime didn't support him, Reo hated him, and Urahara was her father. And _Kon_ was her _brother_. Where the hell had that even come from? Not only that, but the whole day he had been met with reminder after reminder that Leona, the girl he loved, was dead. She wasn't coming back. As much as he wanted it to be true, even if Hitsugaya Leona had been reborn, she was not the same person. She would not remember him... Or would she? Ichigo didn't know how to go about approaching any part of the situation, and Urahara's usual shady antics were not helping matters.

From the other room, Ichigo could still hear Isshin clearing up in the clinic. Time had treated his father well, but Ichigo figured that that was one of the perks of living out your life in a Gigai. He paused, staring down at his own hands for a moment. Studying them. Perhaps this had all been one big mistake; Maybe Byakuya had been right in telling him to stay, and right about not telling Toshiro, as well. Maybe all of this effort on Reo was simply wasted time...

A sudden knock on the door drew Ichigo out of his musings. The water within his glass sloshed as he stood up, unsure of what to expect. Who would come here so late? Before he could get to the door, however, Isshin had motioned for him to sit back down. His father jogged to the door, opening it to reveal the very last person that Ichigo felt like seeing just then.

"... Urahara." he said stiffly, taking another sip of water as Isshin invited Urahara to take a seat.

"My son, we mustn't be rude to guests," he said jovially. Ichigo rolled his eyes; How was it that even after twenty years, no one seemed to have changed at all?

"What do you want?" Ichigo continued, his tone still sharp, his glare still icy. Urahara simply smiled, thanking Isshin as he set a glass of water in front of him, as well, before exiting the room. The two men were silent, Urahara perfectly content to down the entire glass as slowly as humanly possible before speaking. "So? What is it?"

"I owe you no explanations." Urahara stated simply. His glass made a small ringing noise as he set down carefully on the tabletop. Ichigo scoffed, rolling his eyes but saying nothing. "That being said, I know all too well that things tend to get out. Especially around here."

"What's your point?" Ichigo asked, his voice cutting, but seeming to slide off of Urahara like oil. The man seemed entirely unfazed by his fellow Shinigami's hostility, and he kept his face calm. "Are you ashamed of whatever one night stands lead to Hiro, Reo... Kana? Don't be. It's not my business." At this, Urahara simply laughed, earning himself another heated glare from the carrot-top across the table.

"One night stands?" he repeated. He removed his hat, setting the green and white striped accessory next to his fan on the table. "Come now, Kurosaki-san. Do I really seem like the type for such frivolous things?"

"I dunno. Yoruichi's the mom, right?" Ichigo retorted, ignoring Urahara's frantic hand gestures. "Gotta be. She's the only woman who-"

"Kurosaki-san, I am trying to explain the situation... If you'll let me." At last, Ichigo fell silent.

His eyes were still downcast, glaring through his glass at Urahara's fingertips. Ichigo knew that he was being immature- He didn't enjoy acting this way. But nothing was how he thought it would be. Quite the opposite, everything was_ quite the opposite _of what he had been expecting.

"Fine." he said curtly. "Shoot."

A pause. This is what made Ichigo the most suspicious. It was not like Urahara Kisuke to be nervous- Or to question his own words. It was very much like him to hide things, however, and that was what scared Ichigo the most. What was so important that Urahara Kisuke didn't want to hide it any more? The blonde man on the other side of the table took a long, shaky breath before speaking.

"Urahara Reo is not my daughter." he said at last. His grey eyes, so similar to Reo's, were now meeting Ichigo's own brown ones unblinkingly. "None of them are. They're not even human."

"What... _What_?" Ichigo breathed. His eyes were wide, and he could barely breathe in and out. He had been so sure... Leona was reincarnated. That was the only explanation. So how could she not be human? Urahara pursed his lips, still meeting Ichigo's eyes but looking far less confident about doing so.

"You heard me." Urahara replied, sitting up a little straighter. "Urahara Reo and her sisters are not human."

"Wh-"

"Do you understand now, Kurosaki-san? Leona was not reincarnated. I don't think she ever could have been had I not intervened."

"I don't... I don't understand." Ichigo choked out. The rest of the water in his glass was forgotten, despite his now parched throat. All of his attention was only on Urahara. Not his thirst, not his worries, not his fears. _Just_ Urahara.

"Urahara Reo is not my daughter through some miracle of nature," Urahara began. "She is my daughter because I gave her a body again and repressed all of her memories that she hadn't already lost."

"But Leona, she-"

"Reo isn't a human. She's a Mod Soul."

* * *

><p><strong>In this chapter, we really just see a few more interactions between all of the mainmost prominent characters in the story. In the beginning of this chapter, we can tell that Urahara is hiding something about Reo and the other Urahara siblings. Kon almost lets it slip, but Urahara catches him before he can tell Ichigo any important details, and Ichigo is kicked out of the Urahara Shop before any more questions can be asked. Kon has also officially found Nozomi Kujo in the parking lot- As I've said, this is an adaptation of the plot of the Bleach Anime-Only Invading Army Filler Arc. We also see all of the Urahara siblings together for the first time, even though it is only for like a paragraph. Ichigo is having a lot of doubts about his decision to return to the World of the Living for Reo- That is, until Urahara decides to reveal some critical information about Reo and the rest of his "daughters"! **A more detailed explanation of Reo, Hiro and Kana's situation to come next chapter. **I think I may also bring Rukia in next chapter, but we'll see.**

**Also, due to the recent things that came to light in Bleach Chapter 479, I mentioned briefly that the Vizards are back in Soul Society. Which, in the manga, they are. In the manga Rose is Division Three's Captain instead of Ichigo, but for obvious reasons I changed it. For those of you who have yet to read the latest chapter, you should get to it!**

**Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, and for any of you who also read my other works, I would like to publicly announce that my other stories have officially been put on the back-burner. Back in Black is now my top priority, story-wise. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter, my characters, or anything anyone has to offer! Thanks to all who added Back in Black to their favorites/alerts list, as well. I got so many emails when I published this, it was crazy, so keep 'em coming! Look out for the next chapter, and don't forget to review!**

***Gikongan: Artificial Soul Pill. Contains a Gikon, which is an _Artificial Soul, _or souls designed by Shinigami scientists to separate a Shinigami's spirit from a Gigai, should they be inhabiting one, or to evict stubborn spirits from their corpses if necessary.**


	3. The Coffee Conundrum

_..._

* * *

><p><strong>BACK IN BLACK<strong>

_"Hirokute fukai unmei no naka shizumanai you ni."_

**CHAPTER III**

* * *

><p><em>"Should I kill myself, or have a cup of coffee?"<em>

Reo had always enjoyed this quote. She had never been too sure as to why. She had never really been interested in life philosophies or in the theories that surrounded the mindset of existentialism. It was a simple quote, the meaning of which was often received in one of two ways: With admiration or with mild skepticism. Frankly, Reo wasn't sure why more people didn't question the meaning behind these ten simple words. She knew that she did every so often, but she supposed that she would never find out what it meant, as Albert Camus had been dead for many years, so she had no hope of asking him what he had meant by it when he said it.

But, Reo did enjoy coffee. Perhaps that was why she enjoyed this quote so much. Much to the redhead's dismay, however, the simultaneously sinking and fluttering feeling that she was feeling in her chest did not ease up the more she sipped the creamy brown liquid held within the clay mug in her hands. Quite the contrary, the more caffeine that she ingested, the more worried she seemed to become. Which brought her thoughts right back round to the original question at hand.

Should she continue to drink this cup of coffee, or kill herself to avoid this horrendous turn of events brought about by her idiotic elder brother?

"What... Have you done, Kon..." she whispered.

Her eyes had been locked in a single spot since their arrival home. The girl that they had found Kon drooling over in the parking lot now lay in Reo's bed, her messy green hair fanning over the pillow and giving her almost an angelic like look about her. Reo narrowed her eyes, which were still fixed on the girl's face. Reo knew better than that. No matter how strange Karakura was or how many weird things she saw there, she was quite positive that there was no such thing as angels. Girls did not just fall from the heavens- Or the sky, as the case may have been. More likely than not, the girl had been some sort of key player in a drug deal gone wrong, and had suffered the consequences. Reo shivered; She really didn't want to think about those things just now.

"What?" Kon protested, waving his hands in the air. "I didn't do anything!"

"Oh really?" Hiro retorted, her hands on her hips. "So you just 'accidentally' found this naked girl in a parking lot?"

"_Yes_." Kon replied. "That's what I've been telling you!"

"A little far fetched, wouldn't you say?" Kana said softly. She hadn't said much since they had arrived home, and had been content to stand in the corner of the room, watching her sisters verbally beat her elder brother. "Girls don't just fall from the sky."

"Did I say she fell from the sky?" Kon screeched. Reo winced- Kon had a horrible habit of raising his voice far more than necessary. "No, I didn't! She was in the fucking-"

"Kon, language." Reo said harshly. "There are children present."

"Sorry, Kana."

"Apology accepted," the caramel haired girl whispered. She still did not move from her spot in the corner.

"So... What's the story?"

"I already told you, Reo!" Kon whined. A glower from the redheaded twins caused him to back peddle immediately. "I-I was walking to get you guys and I was taking a shortcut, and I tripped... O... Over her."

"You tripped over the dead girl?" Hiro gasped.

"She's not dead!"

"Inside voice, please, Kon." Reo sighed, rubbing her temples. The louder he got, the worse her headache was, and no amount of coffee was going to make it disappear. "You tripped over a naked woman in the parking lot..."

"Yeah, and then you guys hit me over the head and made me carry her all the way back here!"

"You're lucky no one else saw you, idiot, they'd've called the police." Hiro said, snickering all the while. Reo shot a sharp glare in her direction, but the younger twin ignored it. "You're a shady guy, I'd draw the same conclusions as anyone."

"You _have_ drawn the same conclusions!"

"We don't think you did _that_, Kon, we're just-"

"Reo, you think I did something or we wouldn't be here." Kon replied. His tone was now very serious, and his arms were folded across his chest.

"We did find you prodding at a naked woman's body, Kon." Reo mused. Taking a long drink from her cup, the elder Urahara twin mulled over the situation within her mind. "Are you sure no one else saw you?"

"Yeah, I think-"

"Because it didn't look good. Not even to us."

"Nothing looks good to you girls!" Kon protested angrily. His arms were being waved around his head in a wild manner, and Reo had to work to keep her precious cup of coffee out of his arms' reach, lest he spill it on her uniform. "I didn't do anything! All I did was find her, okay?" For a long while Reo was silent, ignoring the stares of her three siblings as she continued to sip from her coffee. Her stormy eyes had still not moved from the green haired girl in front of her. At last she finished her coffee, setting the now empty mug on the floor beside the girl, and stood up.

"Well... I hope Rukia-san sees things that way, too."

"W... Reo, what?" Kon stammered, his eyes widening. "Y-you... She's coming here?"

"She is."

"W-why?"

"I called her."

"But wh-!"

"I see you have gotten your sisters into yet another troubling situation, Kon."

The panicking brown haired boy froze instantly, the back of his neck prickling uncomfortably beneath the powerful glare of the one and only Kuchiki Rukia. From over her brother's shoulder, Reo met the woman's almost violet eyes, feeling at ease upon seeing her serious expression. If anyone would know how to take care of a situation like this, it would be Rukia. She doubted that her father would be of much help, at all. After all, the man was almost exactly like Kon in every way, despite the two men having no blood relation whatsoever.

Rukia sighed, shooting another powerful glare in Kon's direction as she neared the green haired girl in the center of the room. Rukia was much shorter than Reo was, despite their age differences, and she stood a good head or two beneath Reo if they each stood upright. She was wearing her usual short-sleeved frock, the little black-and-white dress ending just above her knees. As usual, she wore a pair of lace-up canvas shoes on her feet. Reo had known Rukia for several years- She was a frequent customer at her father's shop, as well as a family friend, but she was by far the least strange out of all of Urahara Kisuke's friends. Reo admired her; She was smart, strong, levelheaded and possibly the only one of them who would be able to get the truth out of Kon. Rukia had a special gift when it came to beating information out of her irresponsible older brother.

"... Strange," Rukia whispered as she leaned down, trying to get a closer look at the girl.

"What is?" Reo asked, her eyes holding a vague curiosity as she watched all of Rukia's movements carefully. Rukia simply shook her head, standing up straight again.

"It's... Nothing." she replied slowly, but Reo did not miss the confused glance that Rukia cast in Kon's direction afterwards. "I'll need to speak with your father, Reo-chan."

"But, Rukia-san, don't you think-"

"I apologize, Reo-chan, but I really feel it would be best if he knew about this." she said, her tone serious but just as calm as always. "You want to be sure your Nii-san isn't in any trouble, don't you?"

"I... Yes..."

The heavy atmosphere was suddenly broken as the doors to the shop were all but thrown open, revealing a very drunk-looking Urahara, and a seriously pissed off looking Kurosaki Ichigo. Reo's eyes widened, and instinctively she moved to cover the green haired girl up with the sheet in which she was wrapped up in. Rukia, however, stopped her, her hand wrapping around Reo's wrist as she restrained her movements. Reo bit her lip; She did not like this situation at all. Not one bit.

"Urahara-san." Rukia said, her voice level as her eyes searched Urahara's expression for any signs of sobriety.

"Ah, Kuchiki-san!" Urahara chimed giddily, waving his green-and-white striped hat around his head drunkenly. Reo face-palmed despite herself. Her father had to be the most irresponsible man on the planet; It was no wonder Kon had turned out the way that he had. "What can I do for you? Do you need a Gigai- Oh! You've already got one, good for _you!_"

"What's a Gigai?" Reo asked, exchanging glances with Hiro, who shrugged. Rukia blanched.

"It's nothing," she replied swiftly. Reo did not miss the look of confusion that Ichigo was now giving her. "Urahara-san, are you _drunk?_"

"That I am."

"My old man challenged him to a drinking game," Ichigo sighed, dropping Urahara to the floor unceremoniously and rolling his eyes. "Drunk old men are the worst."

"I'm not old! I barely age!" Urahara sang happily. Hiro frowned.

"Rukia-san, is he gonna be okay?" she asked, a rather uncharacteristic expression of nervousness overtaking her face. "He's saying really weird things..."

"Yes, he'll be fine." Rukia said. "Ichigo, just-"

"Rukia! Why the hell is that girl naked?"

"Kon, stop that!" Reo scolded, slapping her brother's hand. Kon winced, dropping the sheet from his hand and backing away from the unconscious girl as quickly as he could. It seemed that the situation was now boring him, and he had resorted to trying to get a look at the girl's naked body one more time. "You're disgusting."

"I've got a natural curiosity for a boy my age!"

"For a _man_, and man your age, Nii-san!" Reo retorted, glowering in her bother's direction. "Only men your age tend to see naked women because they get them hopelessly drunk, and then bring them back to their place, not because they find them already naked on the street, you perv!"

"Well said." Ichigo muttered, his eyebrows partially raised as he continued to stare at the green haired girl on the floor.

"You stop looking, too!" Reo shouted. "Jesus, are all the men in my life _this_ sexually frustrated?"

"Hey, hey, I'm not-" Ichigo began, backing away from the fuming redhead in front of him.

"Then stop staring, I know as well as anyone just how see through that sheet is!"

"Sounds like you're the one who's been staring..." Ichigo murmured, and despite herself Rukia snickered. Kon smirked, patting Reo on the back lovingly before speaking.

"Oh, she has been, my friend."

Without another word, Reo let out a ferocious growl from deep within her throat. Pushing past Ichigo roughly, she grabbed both her sisters by the wrist, dragging them out of the room before slamming the door behind her. Rukia, Ichigo and Kon all stayed silent, the silence only broken by an occasional groan from the still drunk Urahara, who was now laying face-down on the floor. Rukia and Ichigo exchanged nervous glances, and at last Kon broke the awkward silence.

"Dude. She's not gonna sleep with you ever again."

* * *

><p><strong><em>... an hour earlier...<em>**

_Ichigo had no questions about just what a Mod Soul was. In fact, he had studied extensively on the subject upon his official acceptance into the Gotei Thirteen. Modified Souls were Artificial Souls that the Soul Society had designed to enhance a regular human's physiology, allowing them to battle Hollows on equal ground. Created through scientific trial known as Project Spearhead, the Shinigami had attempted to narrow the gap between the number of Hollows to the number of Shinigami by reanimating human corpses to do battle with Hollows. Ichigo also knew that the creation of Mod Souls had been halted because of the ethics of it; The Shinigami had not felt comfortable reanimating the bodies of deceased humans simply to eradicate the Hollows._

_The more that Ichigo thought about it, the more it became clear that however Reo and her sisters had come to be, Urahara had had to bend or break several laws of the Soul Society. And to be perfectly frank, Ichigo wasn't too sure how he felt about that. Modified Souls were as good as illegal- It was why Kon was always so nervous around other Shinigami. So what did that mean for Reo, especially since she had no clue that she was anything less than a normal human high school student?_

_"What do you mean... She's a Mod Soul?" he asked finally. Urahara chuckled._

_"Well, technically speaking, anyways." the blonde man mused. "It's a long story."_

_"Does it really look like I care how long it is?" Ichigo interjected. Just then, he didn't really care how rude he sounded. He needed to know what Urahara had done. He needed to know exactly what Reo was. "Just tell me, Urahara." The blonde man across from him took a deep breath, shutting his eyes as if deep in thought for several long minutes before continuing his tale._

_"I found her... Hitsugaya Leona, that is." he began slowly. Just below the calm tone of his voice, Ichigo could almost hear it shaking. Now he was seriously worried. "I found her soul wondering around Karakura many years ago. She was always doing the same thing; Always holding Kana's hand, and always asking me where her brother was._.. Always asking me where her number fifteen had gone, and if he was ever coming back*****._" _

_Ichigo lowered his eyes to the tabletop. She had been stuck in Karakura Town since she had died... Unable to move on to whatever afterlife had been intended for her. She had been looking for her brother... She had been waiting for him to return to the town and set her free. And he hadn't found her until it was too late._

_"It wasn't until much later that I realized that she was stuck in some sort of limbo." Urahara continued, his voice growing graver with every word. "She would fade out of this world and into Soul Society, and then back to this world again. For some reason, she couldn't stay in any one place for very long."_

_"Why?"_

_"I'm not too sure," Urahara said softly. "I have my theories, of course, but..."_

_"Which are?" Ichigo pressed. He didn't care how ridiculous they were. He just wanted to hear them._

_"That she was not allowed to stay in either one of them. I wanted to perform Konso, I did, but I feared the worst."_

_"The worst... As in...?"_

_"The worst as in, if I did anything, Leona's soul would have been taken to Hell."_

_Ichigo's eyes widened, and he felt his breathing stop. Hell? Had he really just said Hell? How did Hell have anything to do with Leona; She hardly deserved eternal damnation for sacrificing herself to save the whole town. So why would she have been stuck in a limbo, eternally trying to escape her sentence in a Hell that she did not deserve in the slightest?_

_"You forget just who Leona was before she became the Leona that you knew." Urahara continued. Ichigo froze; He had read his mind. "Even if the good in her won out in the end, that piece of her soul that was bad, and did all those terrible things was still a part of her. Each time she vanished from this world, I feared that Hell had finally found her... So the next time I saw her, I did the only thing that I could think to do."_

_"You sent her to Hell." Ichigo choked out, grinding his teeth with all his might as he glared across the table at the innocent-looking shopkeeper in front of him. Urahara's eyes widened._

_"Absolutely not." he stated, looking seriously offended._

_"Then why make Mod Souls that look like them? Huh? Why do it? And where is Leona's soul, Urahara, I need-"_

_"Kurosaki-san, Leona's soul is inside of that Gigai." Ichigo froze once more. That made absolutely no sense. "When I finally found her again, I took her back to my shop. I had to work fast, because I had no idea how long it would be before she was sucked back into the Soul Society, or Hell found her. So, after some research, I was able to recreate the Mod Soul; Three of them, actually. I had help from Kon, of course..."_

_Ichigo said nothing. His limbs were tingling with the anticipation, but Urahara was taking his own sweet time about explaining himself. He had to know what he had done..._

_"Then after creating three Gigais that could age over time, like a human body, I was able to infuse the three souls with the Modified Soul pills and place them into their individual Gigais." he concluded. Ichigo blinked._

_"Wait... Three?"_

_"Of course." Urahara replied, as though it were obvious. "I was determined to make sure that if Hell did ever come to call, Leona's soul would be safe. So I separated her from the rotten part of her soul, and placed them into two separate Gigais. Although, I did so at my own risk. Now that the bad part of Leona's soul is completely free of the good, I am uncertain as to how Hiro-chan will grow up. She's already a much more abrasive character than Reo-chan... I worry that with all inhibitions gone, Hiro-chan will revert to Hiori's personality."_

_"You mean the girl who enjoyed killing people and sleeping around."_

_"Yes. That."_

_"Brilliant."_

_"I did the best that I could, Kurosaki-san, and that is more than I can say for you." Ichigo felt a pang go through his chest at these words, and he was surprised to find the blonde shopkeeper glaring at him angrily from across the table. "I saved her, and now you are persecuting me for the faults of my plan? I saved the love of your life from a Hell that she did not deserve. And if that means that maybe the evil part of her soul will flourish and cause problems, so be it. We will deal with that bridge when we come to it."_

_For a long while, both men were silent. Urahara was breathing heavily, and Ichigo's eyes were still wide from being yelled at. It was true that Urahara was usually a very docile character, but this was at least the second time that Ichigo had experienced the wrath within him, and he couldn't really say that he enjoyed it. At last, Ichigo spoke up again, determined to get all the answers that he wanted despite the possibility of being yelled at again._

_"Urahara-san..." he began, and the man across from him glared over at him again. "That still... I still don't understand why you needed the Mod Souls." A short pause, and Urahara answered._

_"I could hardly leave my daughters defenseless from Hollows." he began, smiling fondly at the phrase 'my daughters'. "You know as well as I do that it is their Reiatsu that has been drawing all of the Hollows here. I wanted them to be able to defend themselves adequately. I'm sure you are aware of a Mod Soul's enhanced physiological abilities."_

_"I am."_

_"Well, then." Urahara said. "You understand why I did it." Ichigo stayed silent, simply nodding in reply. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Isshin appears to be drinking some rather tasty-looking Sake."_

_Without another word, Urahara exited the kitchen, leaving a shell shocked Ichigo alone. His hands were balled into fists, and his eyes were stinging despite his many efforts to keep his emotions under control. This was all so much... Too much. But Urahara had saved Leona from Hell... And he had to give him credit for that. With a heavy sigh, Ichigo pushed himself out of his chair and walked towards the counter. After pouring himself a steaming cup of coffee, the carrot-top gazed out of the kitchen window, watching as the inky blackness continued to swallow Karakura Town._

_"Thank you, Urahara-san..."_

_Then he took another sip of his coffee. _

* * *

><p><strong>*The name Ichigo is a homonym for the number fifteen in Japanese, which is why he is often seen wearing shirts that read "15" in both the anime and in the manga.<strong>

**This chapter is a little shorter than the rest, but I thought it did a pretty good job of moving the story right along. Thanks so much for all of the reviews so far, and be sure to leave your comments and thoughts in a review for this chapter! If you have any questions or confusions about my explanation, feel free to ask! Thanks again for all the favorites and alerts, keep 'em coming and please, please review!**


	4. See No, Hear No, Speak No

_..._

* * *

><p><strong>BACK IN BLACK<strong>

_"Asu o ushinatte shimau ka mo shirenai kakegae no nai ima ni se o mukenai."  
><em>

**CHAPTER IV**

* * *

><p>Kana was the silent one. Not just the quiet one, but the silent one. It was very rare of the youngest of the Urahara siblings to ever say much of anything at all, and even when she did, it was typically short and to the point. Sometimes there wasn't even a point; She was just saying something to break her classic state of silence. Even when she had watched her siblings and her father and his friends scramble to figure out just what they were to do about the mysterious naked woman who was now in their house, she said next to nothing, content to simply follow her family with her eyes, and making no move to help.<p>

This tendency to say nothing, however, did come with certain perks. Despite saying very little during her life, Kana had _seen_ very much. Kana saw almost everything; She watched all the time. That was her favorite pastime, after all... Watching. Even though Kana hardly ever spoke, she saw, as well as heard, pretty much everything that had ever happened both around Urahara Shop and within Karakura Town, itself. She had been the first to discover that Hiro was sneaking out after dark _not _because she was in a gang, but because she was caring for a litter of cats that lived in the valley by the river. Kana was still the only one of the three sisters who had figured out exactly what it was that her father sold in that sketchy little shop of his; She figured that her two sisters were content to assume that he just sold drugs. Most of his friends were strange enough to be junkies, after all.

Kana had also been the first and only sister to discover exactly what their father, and the woman that they called their mother, were. Yoruichi, of course, had a little more up her sleeve that Kisuke did. After all, Kana was almost positive that her dear old father could not in any way, shape or form transform himself into a little black cat. Kana was also certain that neither Hiro or even Reo were completely aware of the existence of Shinigami, nor did they know where their "mother", Yoruichi, had run off to for the past few weeks. Kana knew, though. The purple haired woman who had all but raised her had left the world of the living through a pair of shining doors called "Senkaimon" several weeks ago, and neither she or her father had heard from her since. Even Reo and Hiro were starting to get worried.

Lastly, Kana had her own suspicious about just what she and her sisters were. So far, it seemed that she was the only sister who had discovered her own strange form of... Powers. Kana was not too sure if that's what they could be called. But the caramel haired girl was quite certain that a normal human would have to work out for many, many long years in order to lift a fallen lamp post off of an injured dog's leg. And she had been able to do it on her first try, and everyone was well aware of just how out of shape Kana was. Since then, Kana had conducted a few experiments of her own; Not only could she lift obscene amounts of weight with only one hand, but she could also sprint/hop/leap across Karakura Town in a little over a minute and a half. It was no easy feat, even for her, but she doubted that any normal human could do it without killing themselves. Especially the jumping part; Jumping from rooftops was a very dangerous thing for anyone.

Even though Kana knew all of this, she told no one. Her mother and father did not know how much she knew, after all. She hadn't whispered a word to either Reo or Hiro about just how strong they all were- She hadn't even shown them her own powers. Urahara did not suspect that she no longer saw him as just a silly old man drug dealer, and Yoruichi hadn't the slightest clue that she knew about her... Feline side. Despite having all of this knowledge- Seeing and hearing all of these things- Kana did not speak a word of it. She guessed that she had to give props to whoever had coined the phrase:

"See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil."

Because, although Kana had seen and heard many, many things, she spoke about none of them. She was content to keep those things that she had learned as her own little secrets... For now.

* * *

><p>Warm water lapped at Reo's skin, washing away her stress and doubts as she sank lower into the tub full of steaming water. It had been a trying day, to say the least, and Reo was quite certain that she would need more than a hot bath to get over the events of the day. Even though it was still only early evening, Reo felt as though she had been awake for ages, and the warm water enveloping her was only making her feel more exhausted. After a short pause, Reo sighed and slid her eyes open once again, only to stifle a small scream.<p>

Reo was definitely not in her bath anymore. Where she was, exactly, was quite a mystery. She did not recognize the many rustic brick buildings that surrounded her, nor did she recognize the cool waters on top of which she now appeared to be floating. Her choppy burgundy hair fanned out around her face on the surface of the water, her grey eyes wide as she stared upwards towards the crystal clear skies. In the distance she could hear the caw of seagulls, and the noise that the water made reminded her of a beach.

"What are you doing here?"

In a flash Reo sat upright, her uneven blood red locks whipping around her face in the light breeze as her stormy eyes searched for the owner of the voice. For a while she saw nothing, but upon closer inspection, the redhead was surprised to discover a boat floating towards her. Reo didn't move an inch, simply watching as the slim metal boat cut through the water's surface, carving out a path in the glass-like waters until it came to a stop just in front of her. Reo narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. Had it been the boat that had spoken?

"Of course not," the voice said again, and Reo jumped, her head snapping upwards to stare into the boat. "It's too soon for you to be here... You're not even supposed to know about this place, yet." As slowly as humanly possible, Reo allowed her eyes to travel up from the front of the boat, cautiously seeking out the person who had been speaking. She blinked, pausing when her eyes at last fell on a pair of feet. Socks and sandals covered the toes of whoever it was who had spoken. After a short pause, Reo again allowed her eyes to travel upwards. She passed what she assumed were a pair of legs, which were covered with flowing black cloth. She couldn't help her face heating up as her eyes fell on the partially exposed chest of the speaker, who she now realized was male. But it was only when her stormy irises at last fell on his face that she really felt surprised.

"I... Ichigo?"

At this, however, the man simply laughed. Reo frowned indignantly, sitting up a little straighter on top of the water in order to get a better look at the man to whom she was speaking. In the middle of the boat was a fire, which was contained in a large metal bowl on the bottom of the boat. But this was not what interested Reo; It was the fact that the man's face looked almost identical to Ichigo.

"Of course not." he said again, setting down the long paddle that he held in his hand as he spoke. "I simply take on the appearance that you want the most." Reo's frown deepened.

"I don't want you to look like that creep,"

"Oh, I think you do." the man said, chuckling deep in his chest. The harder Reo stared, the more it astounded her just how much the man looked like Ichigo. The only difference was his coloring- His eyes were darker, and his hair was not only darker but longer, the shaggy locks ticking his jawline with every movement that he made. "I wouldn't look like this, otherwise." For a long while Reo stayed silent, content to simply listen as the waves in the water sloshed against the side of the boat, the man within it staring her down icily from his perch far above her.

"... So what do you really look like?"

"That's for another time." he replied calmly. Slowly, he leaned down, stretching out his hand towards Reo. Despite herself she flinched, unsure of whether or not she should trust this strange, boat-rowing man. This did not go unmissed by the Ichigo-doppelganger, who's hand stopped mid-reach, his long fingers still outstretched as though reaching for Reo's hand. The redhead shivered, her eyes meeting his. The next second, his hand had retreated, and he was back to standing tall at the opposite end of the boat.

"Who are you?" Reo whispered, ignoring the vague tugging feeling that she was now feeling in the pit of her stomach. The corners of the man's lips twitched into a sad smile, but only for a moment.

"You wouldn't be able to hear me, anyways."

Then Reo blinked, finding herself back in her bath in her home. The water had grown tepid by then, and Reo could only blink in confusion as she stared around her bathroom.

"I... Wha-"

Reo's own confused stammering was interrupted when the door to the bathroom was thrown open, revealing a seriously put-out looking Ichigo. Reo let out a loud yelp, sinking farther into the cooling bathwater surrounding her and covering her chest with her arms as quickly as possible.

"Ichigo, what the hell?" she hissed angrily. Ichigo simply rolled his eyes, attempting to play it cool even though Reo could clearly see his cheeks reddening in the low light of the bathroom.

"I've seen naked women, and you're sixteen, it's nothing that impressive." Ichigo taunted, causing Reo's cheeks to redden and earning himself a heated glare from the red haired girl in the tub. "Just telling you Rukia and I are leaving,"

"So get my dad to tell me!"

"... He's currently incapacitated."

"You mean drunk,"

"Yeah, I mean drunk." Ichigo admitted, bowing his head.

For a while both parties were silent, simply averting their eyes from the other's and staring off into space. Reo was still curled up into a ball beneath the water's surface, her mind still reeling from her strange dream, and from the fact that Kurosaki Ichigo had just barged into her bathroom while she was naked.

"So..." she murmured, her grey eyes meeting Ichigo's as she spoke. "Are you gonna leave now?"

"Oh!" Ichigo exclaimed, his eyes widening with a mixture of realization and surprise, as if he had forgotten completely what he was supposed to be doing. "Yeah, of course." And without another word he closed the door, leaving a mildly flustered and confused Reo in his wake. Standing up, Reo focussed on listening to anything that may have been happening just beyond her bathroom door. Down the hall, she could almost make out Rukia's words... And she definitely heard her say "Soul Society". Narrowing her eyes in suspicion, Reo worked quickly to dry herself off and slip on her clothes, ignoring the way the thin fabric of her black sweatpants clung to her still damp legs. Her choppy hair was still dripping wet, the water droplets traveling down the back of her neck and sending shivers across her skin that had nothing to do with what she was planning on doing... She was going to follow Ichigo and Rukia.

Exiting Urahara Shop swiftly and quietly, Reo only had to glance left and right quickly to know which way the pair had gone; Ichigo's brilliantly orange hair was still visible from just around the corner. After pulling on a thin black sweatshirt, on which the number fifteen was printed in bold red letters, Reo took off after Rukia and Ichigo, being sure to stay just far enough behind to remain out of their eyesight. Reo was cold, her whole body was still dripping wet, and she was not at all dressed for the weather; But she had to know what they were up to. Reo wasn't stupid- She knew that the girl Kon had brought home was not normal. She also knew that Rukia knew, and she was quite positive that if Rukia was acquainted with both Ichigo and her father, she was far from normal, as well. The fact that both she and Ichigo were now dressed head to toe in black robes and carrying swords was more than proof of that.

"... Shinigami..." Reo whispered to herself as she trotted along behind the suspicious black-clad duo in front of her.

The two were speaking swiftly, but she couldn't make out what they were saying from that far away. As Reo drew closer, she found herself almost swept off her feet as a strong wind swept across the empty lot in which the three of them were now standing. Out of nowhere, a circular door appeared in the air, opening as the winds increased tenfold. Reo let out a gasp, watching in surprise as both Ichigo and Rukia entered the round double doors together. Mustering whatever courage she had, Reo made up her mind, sprinting after the two without even bothering to consider just what could happen to her if she did. She got there just in time, slipping through the small crack left between the two doors, which closed together with a snap no sooner had she passed through them.

Reo's eyes widened, and she soon forgot that she was cold, or that she was wet, or that she was not at all dressed for the weather. All of her small, insignificant worries were swiftly swept away as her eyes were met with possibly one of the strangest things that she had ever seen in her whole life. The redhead was given little time to take in the appearance of the tunnel that she was now standing in, however, as it seemed that her cover was now officially blown.

"Reo!" Ichigo called, his voice close to a growl, a mixture of surprise and anger. Reo jumped, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. Why did she feel like she was in danger? What was this place... And why was Rukia looking at her as if she were about to die?

"Reo-chan, look out!" Rukia's scream bounced off of the walls of the tunnel, filling Reo's ears as she turned all the way around. Her eyes as wide as saucers, Reo could only watch as an enormous... Boulder, of some kind, made its way straight for her. A small light glimmered at the very top of it, illuminating its path as it barreled straight forwards. It was feet from her, and Reo highly doubted that she had any hopes of outrunning such a monstrous thing. No sooner had she thought this, however, did she feel a strong arm wrap around her waist, pulling her away from the giant boulder and back towards Rukia faster than she could even comprehend.

Ichigo grabbed Rukia as well, holding a girl under each arm as he activated his Bankai and flew through Dangai, Kōryū***** hot on his heels. Glancing down to his left, he watched as the Substitute Shinigami badge that he had held onto all of these years slip from the sash around his waist before being swallowed up by the Kōryū. Turning to face forwards once again, Ichigo mustered up all of his strength, putting forth one more enormous burst of speed- And then they were through. The three of them fell through the sky, and Ichigo felt Rukia slip out from under his right arm as both he and Reo fell through the treetops. The two hit the ground with a loud thud, and he heard Reo cough and splutter as the wind was knocked out of her.

"Ich... _Kurosaki!_" she cried out angrily, pushing herself up as swiftly as possible. He was sure he could see her wobble a little, apparently disoriented from their fall, but she managed to stay upright. "What the _hell_ was that?" Reo hissed. Without so much as a warning, the vivacious redhead had grabbed him by the collar and shoved him up against a tree. Urahara hadn't been kidding when he had said that he hadn't left his daughter's powerless- Anyone who knew about Mod Souls would have no trouble identifying her as one with this kind of strength.

"Don't act like this is my fault!" Ichigo retorted as he pried Reo's fingers off of his collar one at a time. "You're the one who followed us! I didn't ask for you to tag along,"

"Only because you were hiding something from me!"

"How is it your business?"

"I... That..." she began, stumbling over her words clumsily, unsure of how to reply. "That's not the point!"

"Oh really?" Ichigo replied skeptically, raising his eyebrows before meeting Reo's gaze. If anything had changed about Reo since Leona's death, it certainly hadn't been her stubborn personality. Her stubbornness seemed to be completely intact, and then some. "What's this about, then? Because you followed us here- And you could've gotten yourself killed back there! What the hell were you thinking?"

"I just want to know what this place is!" Reo protested shrilly. But before Ichigo could answer, he found both himself and Reo surrounded by several familiar faces. Reo blinked, suddenly realized that several swords were now pointed right at her.

"Byakuya..." Ichigo muttered darkly, his eyes narrowing in suspicion as he gazed around at the circle of people now surrounding him. From behind Ichigo, Reo could see a short man with white hair, who was staring at her in surprise, but said nothing. The man the Ichigo had spoken to, who's eyes were the same color as Reo's and who's hair was a deep black, at last spoke up.

"I do not know what you were planning, bringing her here," he began, nodding his head in Reo's direction. Reo frowned. "But we must bring you into custody as a material witness."

"It's nothing personal, Captain Kurosaki," said another voice, but Reo was too busy staring at the man with white hair to pay attention to anyone else. "This order's from the top." At last Reo tore her eyes away from the man, instead choosing to stare straight up into Ichigo's light brown eyes.

"Ichigo..." she murmured, her eyes traveling over the unfamiliar faces surrounding her once more before continuing. "What the hell did you do?"

* * *

><p>*<strong>Koryu <strong>**is the current that is constantly flowing through the Dangai, in order to prevent enemies such as Hollows from using it. The current stops souls from moving, and even one foot caught by it makes escape almost impossible.**

**This chapter is basically a transition chapter- You'll notice that it's a bit shorter than the others! In this chapter we get a little bit of insight into Kana, who has been a bit elusive for the first several chapters. As you can see, she's kind of the silent-watcher type of gal. We also get a peek at what appears to be Reo's new Inner World- Which looks an awful lot like a weird version of Venice, Italy in case anyone was shaky on the description. The man she meets looks a lot like Ichigo- Who is he? I'm sure most of you can guess! We also get a little Reo-Ichigo interaction, that is until they are surrounded by what appear to be some Captains of the Gotei Thirteen. Keep in mind though, in the Bleach Invading Army Arc, they are meant to be Reigai, as the real ones are in the human world!**

**Thanks so much for the reviews on last chapter. And to all who have added this story to their favorites or to their alerts, your support is really appreciated! Keep the reviews coming, and get ready for some seriously action-packed and mysterious chapters to come!**


	5. Fights and Memories

..

* * *

><p><strong>BACK IN BLACK<strong>

_"Kono koe ga douka todoku you ni sakebitsuzukete'ta yo..."_

**CHAPTER V**

* * *

><p>Reo had never been in a hostage situation before. Nor had she ever been held captive- the closest that she had ever come to either, as far as she could remember, was the time when Hiro had stuffed her into the drier after she had accidentally cut off a piece of her younger twin's hair. This had been many years ago, and Reo herself barely remembered it. All she could say about her current situation was that, although similar, at least she had a little bit more space to herself this time. Sighing audibly, Reo let her eyes wander towards the carrot top with whom she was currently sharing her dingy cell with. He looked thoroughly miffed.<p>

"What was that?" Reo muttered, sure she had heard him grumble to himself. Ichigo jumped, only slightly, before meeting her gaze. He didn't look happy with her at all.

"I said, 'What's wrong with everybody'." he repeated, his glare still set on Reo.

She felt her insides clench with a mixture of guilt and frustration- She didn't like him looking at her like that, and she was surprised by the sudden sting of warm tears in the inner corners of her eyes. Swiftly she turned away, not wanting for Ichigo to see her tears should she blink and they come splashing down her face. She glowered; Why the hell was she crying? She didn't give a flying fuck what the orange haired Shinigami thought of her. It was certainly not something _anyone_ should be crying over. Mentally berating herself for her weakness, she subtly wiped the corners of her eyes before turning back to look at her companion.

"It looks like they don't like you very much." she concluded, trying her best to look stoic. Ichigo's frown deepened.

"I'm a Captain here..." he replied bitterly, biting on his fingertips thoughtfully. "I don't get it... Have they been brainwashed by someone?"

"Brainwashing's not real, you idiot."

"Neither are Shinigami." Ichigo retorted, which shut Reo up right away.

Brainwashing, Gods of Death... Reo had had enough of all of this. Silently she wished for her life to return to normal, though she knew it was futile. Normal siblings, normal home, normal school... A kind of normal dad. As normal as Kisuke could be, anyways. She'd just _had_ to know more, hadn't she? It was her own fault, really, she thought. She'd never been content just leaving the shady goings-on in Karakura Town well alone. She _should_ have just let Rukia and Ichigo go on their own when she saw them... But she just had to know more.

"Sorry, Kurosaki," Reo said finally. Her voice was barely audible, and it broke slightly under the strain of whispering. Ichigo turned to face her, a questioning look on his face.

"For what?"

"I don't know," she replied. "Just take the damn apology, okay?"

Before Ichigo could reply, however, a soft hiss made its way through the air. Reo's ears perked up, her head spinning forward in order to locate the source of the hiss. After several seconds, she heard it again, this time much closer. It was followed by some scuffling, and almost in unison she and Ichigo both rose to their feet.

"_Ichigo,_" the voice hissed. A small smile of relief made its way to Reo's face. She knew that voice.

"Rukia-san!" she whispered back happily, darting towards the bars of the cell just as Rukia appeared on the other side, Ichigo's sword in tow. "Rukia-san, thank god!" Reo breathed. From behind her, Rukia saw Ichigo frown. She rolled her eyes. It was of no use to anyone for him to be jealous of Reo liking someone better than him at this point in time. She'd barely had any time to get to know Ichigo at all, and now she was stuck in a musty old jail cell in a world of Shinigami about which she knew absolutely nothing. Certainly he hadn't been expecting for this little escapade to give Reo a good impression of him.

"I'm sorry I took so long," she replied. Swiftly removing her katana from its sheath, Rukia shoved the tip of her blade into the cell, breaking the lock and opening the door. Reo smiled. Rukia really was the only person she could rely on in times like these.

Swiftly, and being sure to make no noise, the trio made their way out of the building. Reo winced slightly as the door shut behind her, even though it made only the tiniest of noises. Making sure to stay next Rukia the entire time, Reo only briefly allowed her eyes to fall on Ichigo, who was looking as bummed as ever. She could only guess any of the millions of thoughts that must have been swirling through the carrot top's mind at that very moment. Whatever- or _whoever_- the people that had captured them were, Ichigo had clearly thought of them as friends. Her eyes softened despite herself; she wondered if he was okay.

"I still don't know what I did..." Ichigo muttered at last, just as Rukia came to a stop at the edge of a partially demolished building.

"I'm not sure, either." Rukia replied. Reo stayed silent, but her cloudy eyes followed the conversation avidly. "I looked into it a little- It appears that a time gap has formed between the Soul Society and the World of the Living."

A pang rang through Reo's heart, and a little gasp escaped her slightly parted lips. Ichigo's eyes darted to her for a moment- Mostly filled with confusion, but Reo could also barely see something that resembled hope in his expression. It was gone in an instant, as well as the pang in her heart, but the sudden feeling of familiarity remained. Why did that sound so familiar? "Soul Society"... She'd never heard it before, she was sure of it. Putting two and two together, Reo figured that the Soul Society must be where they were now. Her eyes darted briefly from the rubble from the wall next to which they were standing, to the starless sky, and then to the cobblestone pathway that ran through the entire length of the city.

Flashes. That was all she was getting. A white haired boy- The one she had seen in the group of officials who had reprimanded her and Ichigo upon their arrival- was staring up at her. Then he disappeared, only to be replaced by someone else. This time it was a man- Tall, dark, handsome. Reo recognized him, as well. He had been at the forefront of the people who had imprisoned her. His lips were moving, so Reo knew that he was speaking, but she couldn't hear his words. The face morphed yet again, this time it was a face that she definitely recognized... It was Ichigo.

He was smiling in a way that Reo had never seen before. The sadness that she often noticed in the carrot top's eyes was gone as he smiled down at her, an enormous sword gleaming on his back. His lips were moving, too, and Reo could barely make out the muffled sound of his voice. Her eyes widened as he leaned in, his words sounding warped, echoed and contorted. At last they cleared, and Reo heard the last of what he was saying.

_"Morning, sleeping beauty."_

"That's original." Reo muttered. Ichigo and Rukia's words ceased as each of them turned their gazes towards Reo, whose breath stopped as she realized that she had just said that out loud. Her eyebrows furrowed. What had made her say that? What had those memories been? She didn't remember Ichigo ever having said those words to her. Before she could read any more into it, Ichigo broke her train of thought.

"Reo... You okay?" he murmured, his eyes trained on her. The flicker of hope she had seen before had increased, and she had no idea why. Her cheeks heated under his gaze, and Rukia smirked, half out of amusement, and half out of annoyance. Before she could say anything, a sudden movement in front of them drew their attention. Reo froze, her eyes settling on the bald man and the redheaded Shinigami in front of them. Chills rippled up her spine in anticipation- Whatever was about to happen, she knew it couldn't be good.

"Kurosaki, who are these people?" Reo hissed, keeping her stormy orbs on the pair in front of them. Ichigo ignored the knot that formed in his stomach at her words- This happened every time she called him 'Kurosaki'. How had the girl who he had loved gotten so far away from him so quickly? Pushing his sad thoughts aside, Ichigo addressed the pair in front of them, which also answered Reo's question.

"Ikkaku..." Ichigo began, nodding at the bald man. "Renji."

"Sorry, Ichigo," Renji replied, reaching for his sword. "You and your friend'll have to return to jail quietly."

"You guys, too, huh?" Ichigo sighed.

"We have no intention of killing you," he continued. "so long as you return to jail quietly." At this, Reo rolled her eyes. As if that was gonna happen. "Though I don't think that'll happen." Renji finished. Reo withheld a snicker- At least they knew just what a stubborn guy they were dealing with.

"Tell us one thing, Renji," Rukia had stepped forward, speaking up for the first time since the offending Shinigami had arrived. "Why is Ichigo a suspect?"

"Your Combat Pass."

"My Combat Pass?" Ichigo repeated, a look of confusion marring his features. Reo knitted her eyebrows together, matching Ichigo's confusion. What the hell was a combat pass?

"Yeah, it was presented as evidence."

"Now that you mention it... I dropped my Combat Pass when the Cleaners attacked us in the Precipice World." Ichigo recounted, his eyes locked on Rukia and Reo.

"Your Combat Pass was found there several days ago." Ikkaku stated, narrowing his eyes in suspicious. Reo frowned.

"That's impossible," she replied, finally speaking up. "We were there only yesterday, I saw it fall off."

"We found it around the same time that Captain Kurotsuchi and the others disappeared."

"Well, you're wrong." Reo stated blandly, folding her arms.

"Reo, be quiet." Ichigo ordered sternly. Reo's eyes widened, parting her lips for a retort. How dare he boss her around, she was trying to help him. But Rukia silenced her with a single look. "How can you accuse me of anything? We passed through the Precipice world only yesterday- And why would I kill my fellow Captains?"

"You disappeared, none of use knew what happened to you."

"You can ask Byakuya-" But Renji held up a hand to stop him.

"We don't understand what's going on," he said, his tone full of finality. "We aren't doing this because we want to."

"But if your resistance means that we can fight again, then I welcome it!" Ikkaku growled. "I couldn't do it before because you were a Captain, but now we have permission to attack you. Extend, Hosukimaru!"

Reo was pushed back both by the force released from Ikkaku's weapon, and by Ichigo's powerful hand. Her back hit the stone wall behind her, the air temporarily knocked out of her. In front of her hazy eyes, Reo could only watch as the two Shinigami charged for Ichigo and Rukia, whose swords were now also drawn. A metallic clang hit her eardrums as the blades collided, and a snarl escaped Ichigo's lips with the effort exerted keeping them away from Reo.

To her left, Reo watched as Rukia was slowly being overpowered by the redhead. She didn't understand it- She had always known Rukia to be a particularly strong person, even before she had known what she truly was. But the ease with which it seemed that Renji was overpowering her was astonishing. Reo blinked, and when she opened her eyes Rukia had been thrown away with the force of Renji's katana. Reo heard Ichigo call out to Rukia as he beat Ikkaku back, but Reo was no longer paying any attention. Without thinking, the redhead darted forward, putting all of her power into her feet.

Renji turned on the spot, barely having time to react as Reo's fist barely missed hitting him square in the face. Instead her fist struck his shoulder roughly, nearly knocking his sword from his hands. A deep yelp escaped his throat as he was sent stumbling backwards. Reo came to a halt, both of her fists still raised as the fight between Ichigo and Ikkaku continued to rage on behind her. Rukia groaned, pushing herself up from her position on the ground, her sword knocked a little farther away from her hand.

"Rukia-san!" Reo called, keeping her eyes on Renji, but wanting to know if Rukia was alright. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Reo, just stay back."

"Are you kidding me?" Reo blurted, turning to face Rukia fully. "These guys, you can't take them by you-"

"REO!" It was Ichigo who had called out, but too late, and a second later Reo felt Renji's blade slice through the skin on her left arm. She hissed, jumping as far away as possible from her opponent, holding her bleeding upper arm gingerly in her other hand. She had managed to dodge, thanks to Ichigo, but just barely. Crimson blood dripped from the cut on her arm, which stung with every move she made. Renji's eyes raked over her, familiarity apparent in his eyes as he met Reo's.

"You look familiar..." he muttered. Ichigo struggled to hear what he was saying through his own fight, shoving Ikkaku back as far as possible. "No... You even _feel_ familiar."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Reo replied bitterly. She continued to struggle with her arm, pressing the palm of her other hand hard on her wound, attempting to stop the blood flow. "I've never seen you before." Renji was silent for another several minutes, and Reo began to panic with a sudden realization that she was beginning to feel dizzy. Renji's eyes suddenly widened, a smirk marring his features as he pointed his sword straight at Reo.

"Whoa... Wait till Captain Hitsugaya gets a load of-" With a strangled cry, Renji was silenced as Rukia leapt onto his back, pulling him backwards towards the ground and drawing his attention away from Reo, who was now quickly losing her grip on reality. Her vision was slowly narrowing down to a pinpoint, and slowly she turned to face Ichigo, the blood loss beginning to take its toll. She heard Ichigo shout, but she couldn't quite make out the words. All she could see was Ikkaku charging in her direction, and Ichigo stopping him with a swift cut from his blade. And then darkness took her.

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><p>Glassy waters surrounded her, the coolness relieving the ghostly pain that she still felt in her left arm. Slowly, Reo sat upright, groaning and gripping her arm again as she did so. Her eyes widened in surprise as she realized that her arm was no longer bleeding- in fact, there wasn't even a cut. Just a phantom pain remained, which alerted her to something being horribly, horribly wrong.<p>

She glanced around swiftly, not wanting to be caught unawares. She was sitting in the middle of a glassy lake, faint outlines of rustic brick buildings outlining the edges of the lake. Looking down, Reo realized that she was sitting on a partially submerged dock- It seemed sturdy enough, but the deep brown wood was covered by a few inches of cold water, which lapped at Reo's skin in a way that both calmed her and made her anxious.

"So, you're back."

Reo started, her jump disturbing the smooth waters as the ripples her movements created ripped through its serene surface. In front of her, yet again, was the sleek metal gondola that she had seen in her dreams a few days before. The person in it, however, had changed slightly. His form wavered in and out, changing each time. Sometimes his hair would be white, at other times it was brown, and she saw what looked to be fluffy dog ears hidden in the soft chocolate locks. His hair grew and shortened, his eyes were green then blue, then pure black. His skin would darken and lighten with each blink of her eyes- He absolutely refused to stay the same.

"Where am I?" she asked swiftly, not wanting to waste any time. What if this wasn't a dream? What if it was something important? "What is this place?" Her fists clenched in anticipation beneath the cool waters. Should this strange enigma attack her, she didn't want to be caught off guard. This gesture, however, did not go unmissed by the shapeshifting figure before her, who smiled coolly.

"There's no need for that." Reo frowned. Even its voice was changing, sounding male one minute and female the next. "I'm not here to hurt you. I'm a part of you."

"A... A part of me?" The figure nodded. Reo made a face. "What are you for?"

"Excuse me?"

"Every part of a being has a purpose." Reo replied, shakily standing up on the dock. From her new position, she could vaguely make out warm mists rising from the still water surrounding her, around the metal gondola especially. "So what's yours?" The figure smiled again.

"That's what you need to figure out."

"How?"

"You need to stay here," it replied, but it wasn't gesturing towards the water or the buildings that Reo could barely make out through the mist. It was gesturing towards the sky, in which Reo could now see an image of the Soul Society. Her brows furrowed.

"I don't wanna stay in that place." she replied.

"It's important."

"It's a freak show," she retorted, folding her arms. The entity in front of her smiled and laughed, shaking its head fondly.

"All of you are so stubborn..." Reo cocked her head and raised an eyebrow.

"_All of us_?" she repeated, but the figure did not reply. Her eyes raked the figure, desperately trying to find a clue to its identity.

Suddenly, a glimmer of metal caught her eye- A long blade was attached to the figure's waist. Or, more accurately, towards the belt around its waist. The only thing that seemed to remain the same about the figure was its clothing- A long black robe, form-fitting, with a black leather belt wrapped around its waist several times. The blade hung from the belt, dangling until its tip almost reached the bottom of the boat.

"What's that?" Reo asked, pointing to the blade. The figure smiled.

"Excellent, you are becoming more aware." it said. "Last time you were here, you couldn't even see me." At this, Reo scoffed.

"Couldn't see you? Yes, I could. I talked to you, ya moron!" The thing in front of her smiled, and Reo was suddenly aware of her surroundings wavering.

"You saw this form of me, yes." it replied as the water began to vanish before Reo's eyes. "But you didn't see _me_, me."

"What do you mean?" Reo found her words were becoming harder and harder to get past her lips. "Who are you?" The thing smiled as the gondola began to drift away.

"My name is..." Reo struggled to hear its words, but all she could hear from its lips was a loud buzzing right before her vision went back to black.

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><p><strong>PLEASE READ<strong>

**So it's been more than a year since I last updated... To be honest, I've gotten away from anime/manga interests for the most part since my last visit to this site. But when I returned, I was so determined to finish this that I suddenly found myself writing it again. I apologize if this chapter seems a little off- Truth be told it's been so long that I almost forgot what I'd intended to do with this story all together. But please review, I'd like to know how many people are interested in continuing to read this story, or if I should maybe just delete it and leave the completed Binda Blinda story up on its own.**

**Please review and let me know your thoughts!**


	6. Powerful Persuasion

..

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><p><strong>BACK IN BLACK<strong>

_"Oikakeru tabi ni dandan tooku natte nigedashita totan mata chikaku natte..."_

**CHAPTER VI**

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><p><em>Her eyes widened- Where was she? Looking around, Reo was sure that she didn't recognize it. Everything was white, barren... But loud. Reo swiftly became aware of a fiery hatred boiling in her belly, one that she couldn't explain. Why did she feel so angry, so full of hate? Suddenly, and with an angry growl, Reo turned her head and lunged forwards, pouncing on whoever had been standing right in front of her. Reo's grey eyes widened, suddenly realized that the person who she now had pinned to the floor was none other than Ichigo. In her mind she knew what she was doing was wrong- Ichigo, although definitely creepy, was her friend. But no sooner had she thought this, Reo found herself bringing a sharp blade down through the air. <em>

_Ichigo was barely able to dodge the blow, and Reo marveled at her own strength as she observed the damage she had just done to the pristine white tile floor. Again, she lunged, spinning through the air until she felt dizzy, and again bringing her blade down towards Ichigo's head once again. Again, she missed. Reo felt rage roar in the pit of her stomach, despite not wanting to fight Ichigo at all. Why was it that every time she looked at him, she hated him? She aimed for him, and he moved to the right, she aimed again, he moved to the left. No matter how many times she tried, she couldn't even land a single hit._

_"I HATE YOU!" she finally screamed. In her mind, Reo paused. No she didn't... Reo didn't hate Ichigo. Her throat was already hoarse from her scream, but she had little time to attend to that, as she was already bringing her blade through the air. Her eyes widened as she realized that she had struck Ichigo in the ribs- It was a vital spot, she knew. The force of the contact sent him careening backwards, stopping only when his back at last made contact with the wall, which began to crumble. He slid to the ground, grunting as he forced his body upwards again. Reo rushed forwards as fast as she could, not giving Ichigo any time at all to recover before hoisting him into the air by his collar, sending him sailing into the opposite wall. Reo couldn't help but mentally wince as Ichigo his her mark, a grunt escaping his throat as he slid to the floor._

_ "All this is your fault!" she cried, but she didn't know why. Dropping her sword to the floor, she made a beeline for Ichigo. Reo couldn't understand why whatever body she was in had left the sword behind- Judging from the acheyness she felt in her body, Ichigo put up a good fight. She still didn't understand why she was fighting him, why she felt hatred deep in her gut each time his soft brown eyes met hers. Desperately, as she closed in on him, Reo tried to get her body to stop moving; To stop hurting him, to leave him be. But it was no good._

_"Hiori, don't do this." Ichigo protested through gritted teeth. Using the wall behind him for balance, he forced himself upright. Reo felt another surge of hatred at these words, kicking him roughly and sending him sliding to the ground again._

"Hiori, don't do this."_ she mocked, and Reo was instantly disgusted at the sound of her own voice. It didn't sound like her voice. It was evil, abrasive, full of hatred and even sadness. Regret, maybe, but all of these normal emotions were so overpowered by the tone of pure hatred that they were barely recognizable, even to her._

_ Against her will she brought her fist down, hitting the side of Ichigo's face. "I'm not one of your little friends that you can reason with! I'm not your fucking friend, you moron!" she screamed. In her mind, Reo tried frantically again and again to get herself to stop. No, this wasn't right... This wasn't right at all, _what was she doing? _Punching him again, she soon sent him flying across the room. His back made contact with the ground, and he skidded on the floor until his back hit the wall. "I fucking hate you! You ruined me! This body was supposed to be mine- _Mine_. And now that _Leona_ wants it because of you! _You_! This is all your fucking fault!" Her voice cracked with the force with which she spoke these words. Reo's confusion only increased. Hiori, Leona... Just who were these people? It felt like her body, but the voice, movements and emotions were not her own. She had never felt so lost in her life. She heaved her fist straight into the wall in an attempt to calm herself. Nothing happened. "It's all your fault! YOUR FUCKING FAULT!"_

_The echo of her voice continued to fill the room for another minute. Reo felt her chest heave with the effort the words had taken. She could hear Ichigo grunt in pain, and Reo hoped desperately that she hadn't done any damage. Wherever she was, whatever she was doing, she didn't want to hurt Ichigo. Neither of them spoke for a long while, and Reo focussed on her own breathing._ In, out, in, out..._ The words were repeated over and over in her mind until she once again found herself to be calm. Maybe if she calmed down, she would become herself again. A pause- And then she was laughing. Her shoulders bobbed up and down rapidly in silent laughter, and she put a hand overher eyes, cackling all the louder as she did so._

_"So, Ichigo," she said at last, taking a deep breath in an attempt to quell her fit of laughing. "I'm going to kill you. And then it'll en-" A sudden splattering noise caused her words to falter. Reo's mind was screaming, her conscious flickering in and out, wavering from the pain and confusion that she felt. A strangled gasp of surprise escaped her lips. Was this what it felt like to die? Slowly, she cast her eyes downwards, where the tip of a sword protruded from between her ribs. Crimson blood stained her white uniform, which Reo did not recognize at all. Deep, wine-red blood dribbled down her exposed skin until it finally fell from her body, puddling on the floor._

_"I'm sorry... Leona."_

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><p>Reo woke with a start, sitting bolt upright, crimson locks flying around her face as she did so. Her entire body was shaking, her grey eyes wide in fear. After a moment's pause, she was suddenly uncomfortably aware of the buckets of sweat that were now sliding off of her skin, soaking the pristine white sheets below her. She frowned, still breathing in and out heavily as she lifted a shaky hand to wipe a few beads of sweat from her forehead. Looking to her right, Reo was startled to find her own reflection staring back at her from a window.<p>

Her skin was pale, gleaming with sweat. Not the pretty kind of pale, like a porcelain doll, or a new china tea set. The sickly kind of pale that one gets when they are ill, or dying. Reo didn't like it at all. Her startling carmine hair stood out prominently against her skin, making her look even paler. Dark circle clung to the skin beneath her eyes, which were bloodshot and glassy looking. A sting in her left arm brought her mind crashing back to reality- Right, she had been in a fight. She had been injured... By who? Renji... That had been his name... Hadn't it? She couldn't quite remember, her memory was so foggy.

She wasn't sure what had shaken her more; Was it being attacked by a pair of Shinigami? Having a vision of being in the middle of a lake? Or perhaps it was the dream from which she had just woken. Or, better yet, it was waking up for real in a place just as unrecognizable as her dream. After a moment's pause, Reo's heart stopped- She definitely sensed another presence in the room. Whipping her head towards the other side of the room, Reo's eyes quickly settled on a white haired boy seated in the far corner of the room. She recognized him immediately from the group that had reprimanded them upon their arrival, as well as from the vision she had had just before being attacked.

"Where am I?" she blurted. Her voice was hoarse and feeble... She sounded so sick and frail, and she didn't know why. The boy in the corner simply continued to stare at her, his bright aquamarine eyes so bright that they were visible, even from where Reo was sitting. "I asked, where am I?" she repeated, this time making her voice stronger and more demanding. It didn't seem to faze the boy, though, as all he did was cross his arms and lean farther back into his chair. "Am I dying?" she asked finally, though she strongly suspected that she would, yet again, receive little information from her stoic companion. "Because, if I am, I'd really prefer it if you'd just end it for me now. I look awful." To her surprise, the boy laughed. Reo scowled.

"You're not very helpful, you know."

"No, you aren't dying." he murmured in reply, his lips barely moving while he spoke. "You aren't in Soul Society anymore, either." he continued. Reo arched an eyebrow.

"Where am I, then?" she asked for the third time, doing her best to withhold any hint of impatience. The boy seemed to pick up on it despite her efforts, but made no comment on it. "I've asked you like three times."

"You are in Kurosaki Ichigo's old bedroom." he replied.

"Weird,"

"Yes."

"Why?"

The white-haired boy stood up slowly, flexing his back and cracking it as he stretched before walking over to her. Reo expected to feel uncomfortable at such close proximity of a stranger, but to her surprise she felt nothing but relaxed in the presence of the boy. The mattress sagged as he took a seat next to her, and as he settled himself Reo took the opportunity to get a closer look at him. His eyes were indeed a stunning shade of blue, bluer than any other eyes she had ever seen in her life. The ends of his white hair brushed the fabric of a tattered crimson scarf, which he wore around his neck. An unexplainable feeling welled up in her throat, and before she could register what she was doing, she had outstretched her hand and taken the deep red material between her fingers.

"Ah," she peeped, realizing her mistake and withdrawing her fingers swiftly. "Sorry." Reo muttered.

"No, it's alright." said the boy. He looked surprised, but not upset. His blue eyes continued to study her, something hopeful sparking deep within their azure depths. "Why did you do that?" Reo remained silent, not knowing how to answer. She had no clue why she'd done that. When she made no answer, the boy sighed. "It took you a few days, but it seems that you have fully recovered from your injury and blood loss." he said at last. Reo flushed, and wrinkles marred her forehead as she frowned. _A few days_, all because of one little cut on her arm? How pathetic could she get?

"Don't worry about it so much." he murmured kindly. Reo's confusion increased. With such an icy disposition, she was pleasantly surprised at this boy's kindness. "You aren't as strong as you used to be."

"Excuse me?" Reo asked quickly, meeting the boys eyes, confusion lacing her voice. The boy opened his mouth, realizing his mistake, but before he could back peddle or make any excuses, the door to the room burst open, revealing none other than Ichigo. Upon seeing her, Reo couldn't help but notice that his eyes softened in relief upon seeing her sitting upright, looking remotely healthy (aside from her sickly complexion).

"Reo," he sighed, his relief becoming even more evident when he spoke to her.

Toshiro's eyes darted back and forth between Ichigo and Reo. He felt like he should leave, but he was reluctant to leave the redhead's side, and in the back of his mind, he was almost afraid that if he did, she would disappear again. He knew this fear was ridiculous. But his mind was still reeling with the sudden discovery that, all this time, an almost perfect copy of his sister had been residing in the human world. Right under his very nose. For a moment he mentally cursed his lack of thoroughness; Perhaps if he had discovered her sooner, he could have already helped her regain her memories by now. Her memories of him, her only brother. Memories of Ichigo, and even memories of all of the sacrifices that she had made for everyone in her past life. His eyes softened, touching, the burgundy scarf around his neck subconsciously.

"I'll be back shortly," he said stiffly, forcing himself to stand up from Reo's bedside.

"Ah, but-" Reo began to protest, but she stopped herself. What did she care if he left? She didn't even know his name. "Never mind."

"Glad to see you're awake," Ichigo said as the white haired boy's back vanished from sight. Reo's heart sank as she watched him go, but she wasn't quite sure why. "I was starting to worry."

"You didn't need to," she replied briskly. Ichigo chuckled.

"I know." he said. "You're one tough cookie. Always have been," Ichigo added the last part under his breath, clearly not intending for Reo to hear the words. Her eyes widened slightly at this, and she sat up a little straighter.

"What?"

"No... Never mind, just forget it-"

"Kurosaki, tell me what you're hiding!" Reo demanded, attempting to jump out of bed but failing, pain still searing in her left arm. "I know you're all keeping something from me. That guy who just left said something weird, too, and so did the red-haired guy in Soul Society." Reo held up fingers, ticking off the people who were cluing her in to the shady business surrounding her. "I don't like secrets. Tell me." Ichigo snorted at this.

"You can't order me around, pipsqueak."

"Watch me."

For a long time Ichigo stayed silent, mentally battling with himself. He wasn't quite sure what the repercussions would be, exactly, of telling Reo exactly what was up. She had missed an awful lot in the last few days she had spent asleep, recovering from blood loss. Reo had missed the green-haired girl being attacked, and almost half of the Gotei Thirteen Captains and Leutenants were now holed up in Ichigo's house.

"First, I guess I should tell you what's been going on." he began, settling in on the bed beside Reo, whose cheeks reddened noticeably from his sudden closeness. Ichigo couldn't help but smile a little bit, but he knew that now was not the time to be reveling in Reo's attention. "When you passed out, Yoruichi met us in Soul-"

"Yoruichi's in on all this, too?!" Reo exclaimed shrilly. Ichigo winced as the high pitches met his ears. "Everything I know is a lie." she muttered, half sarcastically, but Ichigo could sense that she felt somewhat betrayed.

"I haven't seen her since we left Soul Society," Ichigo continued. Reo's breath caught in her throat. "She'll be fine, Reo." he assured. "A lot of the Captains... The Shinigami that live in Soul Society, that is," he explained upon seeing Reo's look of confusion. "They followed us back here. That green-haired girl that Kon found, she's not normal. We're looking into it... Someone named Inaba betrayed Soul Society, he needs Nozomi- that's the girl with the green hair- for something. He says that once he has her, he can rule over Soul Society and the human world."

Reo was quiet for a few moment, taking in the new information. "So, I take it you're no longer a suspect or whatever, right?"

"Turns out that the people who attacked us weren't really the people Rukia and I thought that they were." Ichigo explained. Reo arched an eyebrow. "They were Reigai clones... Which I guess brings me back around to your question."

"My question?"

"Yes, your question."

"I forgot it."

"What?" Ichigo snipped, crossing his arms and glowering at her. "A few minutes ago you were screaming at me not to keep secrets."

"Uh, I definitely wasn't screaming," Reo began, frowning. "And it's not my fault that you took like an hour to explain something that you could have explained in, like, five minutes."

"Wow, well _excuse_ me." Ichigo retorted. "I guess I'll ju-"

"No! I wanna hear it, I remember."

Without warning, Ichigo suddenly became serious. His warm brown eyes were suddenly colder, and he wasn't meeting Reo's gaze anymore. Reo suddenly felt cold, and she leaned in a little in an attempt to catch Ichigo's gaze, but he avoided it. Her heart fluttered in her chest; What was making him so serious? She had wanted to know why everyone kept slipping up around her. The odd things that Ichigo, the white haired boy and Renji had all said either to her or about her were making her uneasy, but now Reo found herself almost regretting asking him. If something could make the carrot top this uneasy, she wasn't sure that she wanted to know.

"Reo, this might be... Difficult... for you to hear," he murmured. Reo's eyes widened, and a nervous flush adorned her sickly pale skin. Ichigo took a deep, shaky breath before continuing. "Reo... Reo, you aren't... What you are is... What I'm trying to say is-"

"Spit it out, Kurosaki," Reo whispered. Her heart was beating loudly in her ears. Ichigo was silent for several more minutes before he continued.

"Reo... Reo, you aren't human." he said at last. "Urahara, he's not really your father... I guess maybe he kind of is... He created you."

Mentally, Ichigo cursed himself for his lack of grace. This was life-changing information for Reo... And he was completely fucking it up. Slowly, he let his eyes wander over towards Reo, his head hung in nervousness as he did so. Her eyes were wide, and she wasn't moving at all, her ghostly skin glistening, though Ichigo could barely see a pinkish hue returning to her cheeks, which let him know that she was healing.

"... Kurosaki, I don't know how gullible you think I am, but there's no way I'm going to fall for this bullshit." she said at last. Her eyes darted to the window, and remained there until Ichigo began to speak again.

"I know you think this sounds crazy," he whispered, meeting her eyes as she pulled them away from her reflection in the window. "But it's true. Twenty years ago, you were a Shinigami, just like me. Stronger, even." Reo snorted. "It's true." Ichigo said, his tone becoming more serious. He knew the risks of what he was doing; He had spoken to Toshiro about it a night or so ago, after they had all arrived back at Ichigo's old home, tired from the fight with Inaba.

* * *

><p><em>"How could you keep something like this from me, Captain Kurosaki?" Toshiro said sternly, folding his arms in front of his chest. Ichigo sat down at the kitchen table, stretching in an attempt to loosen his muscles from the fight they had just had with the Reigai.<em>

_"Byakuya and I thought it best-"_

_"I don't care what Captain Kuchiki thought was best." Toshiro snapped. "That's my sister up there. I've been looking for her for twenty years. And you couldn't even tell me that there was a chance that you'd found her?"_

_"She doesn't remember anything, Toshiro." Ichigo muttered, sadness lacing his voice. "Me, you, Soul Society, none of it. Urahara said that once the process had been completed, most of her memories were gone already. He just finished the job."_

_"Damn that meddling scientist."_

_"He did the best that he could." Ichigo murmured. A sudden crash caused him to jump, and he brought his eyes up to see that Toshiro had slammed his fist into the kitchen table. Ichigo raised his eyebrows, never having seen this side of Toshiro before._

_"It wasn't good enough," he said, clenching his fists. "The Seiretei is close to being taken over... And thanks to Urahara Kisuke, all my sister can do is sit in bed, weak and clueless-"_

_"Would you rather she were in Hell?" Ichigo snapped, which shut Toshiro up instantly. "Because that's where she was headed. Hell was coming for her, Toshiro, and Urahara stopped it." Ichigo could hear Toshiro's shallow breath, and his blue eyes were still blazing with frustration. "You can thank him later."_

_"I will do no such thing." the young Captain replied stiffly. "Captain Kurosaki, I know it's risky. I know it will prove difficult. But I know that you want her to remember just as much as I do... And this is an enemy that we haven't faced before. Inaba and his Reigai are rapidly strengthening. We still have no __clue what Inaba's Shikai ability is, but I don't care to find out."_

_"I know what you're asking me to do," Ichigo said softly. "But I don't think that telling her at this point is very wise. Shouldn't we just let her remember on her own?"_

_"What if she never does?"_

_"Well, then-"_

_"We need my sister back, Kurosaki," Toshiro said, losing the 'Captain' prefix to Ichigo's name, showing his impatience. "No... _I_ need her back. And so do you, I know you want her to remember."_

_"She won't believe me."_

_"Telling her what she used to be may help spark her memories." Toshiro offered, seating himself across from Ichigo. A sudden noise from the other side of the kitchen alerted the two Shinigami Captains to another presence in the room. Ichigo raised his eyes slightly as Orihime placed to steaming mugs of coffee in front of the troubled Captains. Ishida was standing behind her, looking grim._

_"Kurosaki-kun, if I may..." Orihime began, seating herself at the last empty seat at the table. "M-maybe... Maybe it wouldn't be the worst thing, if you told her."_

_"Inoue, how-"_

_"I know she won't believe you, at first." she continued, cutting him off. "But think about it, Kurosaki-kun. Last time, she didn't remember anything about Soul Society, not at first. And, yes, a lot of things she did remember on her own eventually... But she had a lot of help. The more people she met, the more she learned. I feel like this will be similar,"_

_"Kurosaki-san..." Toshiro began again. "It needs to come from you."_

* * *

><p>"You're saying... That I'm a Shinigami..."<p>

"Were." Ichigo corrected. "You _were_ a Shinigami. A great one. I met you before you had gotten your Shinigami powers back. You were just like you are now... You didn't remember anything. But you did, and in the end you sacrificed your life to save this town-"

"Stop."

Ichigo blinked, looking up at Reo, surprise evident on his face. Reo wasn't looking at him anymore; Her fists were clenched, fistfulls of sheets held tightly in her shaking hands. Hot tears stung Reo's eyes, and she was struggling to keep her temper in check. There was no way what he was saying could be true- She was just a normal girl, living in a normal town. Urahara Kisuke was her father, he always had been. Nothing was going to change that.

"I don't know if you think I'm stupid, or just plain gullible," she began, her tone icy. "But whoever you think I am, I'm not, and whatever you think I can do, I can't, okay?"

"Reo-"

"No! No, I'm not who you think I am, alright?" Her heart was beating fast, and she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep herself together. "I don't know what you expected... Just leave me alone, Kurosaki."

Ichigo sighed, standing up off of the bed and making his way towards the door. This was slightly what he had expected, but he hadn't thought she would be so adamant in her denial. He knew she remembered something, if anything. He could feel it, and his mind wandered briefly back to he and Reo's first meeting.

_"Good to see you again,"_ she had said. He knew she remembered, even if she didn't want to admit it yet. He looked back at Reo momentarily, wanting to apologize, or say something comforting, but nothing came to mind. He couldn't say 'I love you'... She didn't remember him. That wouldn't have been helpful at all. The redhead was still staring at her sheets, speechless and motionless. Ichigo pursed his lips before turning on his heel and shutting the door behind him.

No sooner had the door shut, Reo was up and out of the bed, ignoring the ringing in her ears and the room that was spinning before her eyes. She stumbled slightly and hit the bedside table, freezing as a mug clattered to the floor. She waited, holding her breath and waiting for someone to come check on her. No one did. Wasting no more time, Reo slipped on her shoes, which were on the floor next to her bed. She was wearing a baggy shirt and some shorts, which she assumed were Ichigo's old clothes, but she didn't care. As silently as she could, Reo slid open the window next to the bed and slipped out onto the roof.

Reo winced as she dropped to the ground, pushing herself up with her still healing arm but ignoring the stinging pains that shot up and down her arm. She got to her feet, shaking her head in an attempt to stop the dizziness. She needed to find her father, but she was disoriented, and she wasn't quite sure where she was. She had lived in Karakura Town for almost seventeen years, but somehow she had no idea what part of the town she was in, or in what direction she would need to travel to get to her father's store.

Turning down a street on her left, stumbling as she did so. Her deep red hair tickled her cheeks as she slumped against the concrete wall on her right, desperately trying to catch her breath. Reo hated feeling so weak- One gash to her left arm, and she took three days to recover? Who the hell was that weak? Flashes of unrecognizable faces made their way into her mind, and she was shocked to realize that the memories were from Soul Society. She could recognize the cobblestone walkways.

Clutching her head Reo sank to the ground, moaning in frustration. She didn't want this- She wanted her life back. Where was her dad? Where were her sisters? Reo cursed herself... She had been so selfish. Why couldn't she have been content with leading a normal life? She had always wanted to know more about Karakura Town, and now that she did, all she wanted was to forget. Her thoughts were interrupted when a scuffling noise met her ears.

"Reo?"

The redhead's eyes widened, relief and joy overpowering her current state of panic. She would recognize that voice anywhere- It was deep but feminine, and other than the deepness, it sounded exactly like her own voice. Reo smiled, looking up from where she was crouched on the ground to meet the familiar grey eyes of her twin.

"Hiro!" she breathed, relief washing over her as her eyes raked over the form of her sister. Reo pushed herself up, still holding the wall for support. "I can't tell you how happy I am to see you." Hiro raised her eyebrows, crossing her arms and smirking slightly. For a second, Reo thought that she would say something sassy. But her sister said nothing. Reo frowned- Something wasn't right.

"Hiro..." she murmured, letting go of the wall and standing straight up. She wobbled slightly, but at last she managed to steel her legs and remain upright. "Hiro, where are dad and Kana?" Hiro shrugged. "Are you serious?"

"Who cares where they are?"

"I do," Reo replied. "And you should, too." Her eyes narrowed, meeting her twins with suspicion. Something was _definitely_ off. "Something really weird is going on, Hiro, and I need to-"

"So you're finally figuring everything out, huh?" Hiro interrupted, allowing her arms to drop to her sides. She flexed her fingers, her eyes trained on her sister, and Reo shivered. No, this didn't feel right at all. "Took ya long enough."

"Hiro, I need your help," she whispered, but she took a step back, desperately wanting to put some distance between her and her twin. "I'm not really sure what's going on, but there's someone here causing trouble, and I need to find dad and talk-"

"You're talking about Inaba-san, right?" Hiro blurted out.

Reo's eyes widened, and she subconsciously took another step back. This was all wrong. A menacing chuckle escaped Hiro's lips, and she took several steps forward to close the distance between herself and her twin. Goosebumps erupted over Reo's skin, and she wasn't sure if it was from fear, or the increasing pain in her left arm. Silently, she hoped her cut hadn't gotten infected.

"I've known about him for a while," she muttered, stepping closer. "In fact, I've had my memories back for a while. Or I guess I should say, _our_ memories."

"What're you-"

"Don't pretend like you haven't been seeing them, too." Hiro interrupted. "The dreams, the visions, the weird deja-vu. I've been there, too, you just have to accept it."

"No..." Reo murmured, backing up some more. She knew it was useless. She felt so weak and sick, and Hiro looked determined to not let her go. "No, Hiro, this isn't right."

"Why are you so desperate to deny it?" Hiro asked, her voice becoming darker. "This 'normal' life of yours... of ours... _that's _what's not right. We were meant for bigger things- better things- and we were meant to be one! All you have to do is-"

"No! No, no, get away from me!" Reo cried, backing farther away, her head whipping back and forth, desperately seeking an escape route. "Where's Kana? Where's dad?"

"I _told_ you, who cares?" Hiro said, repeating her words from earlier.

Reo's heart rate continued to increase as her twin stepped closer. Hiro stretched her arm out to her right, a loud whirring noise filling Reo's ears as a dim light filled Hiro's palm. Reo's stormy eyes watched in apprehension as a long blade materialized in Hiro's outstretched hand, and she immediately recognized the sword as the one from her dreams; The cerated edge was a dead giveaway, the toothy blade was unforgettable.

"Hiro... Hiro, what are you doing?" Reo breathed. Hiro laughed, twirling the blade in her fingers easily, earning a surprised look from Reo. Hiro smiled.

"I'm here to get you to join me." Hiro explained. "Or, more accurately, to join Inaba."

Reo remained silent, her eyes fixed on her sister. She had been so wrong. No matter who Ichigo said she was, it didn't matter anymore. Reo had thought if she could find her sisters, and find her father, that she could have gotten it to all go away. But it was clear to her now, there was no going back. Her sister had chosen her side. There was no normal life left, and if she didn't comply with her sister, she may be killed. Her eyes briefly lingered on the cerated edge of the blade, and the healing wound on her left arm tingled in anticipation.

"And if I say no?" Reo whispered finally. Hiro sneered, her expression sending chills to the very core of Reo's soul.

"Pain can be a very powerful persuader."

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks to everyone who reviewed and favorited last chapter!<strong>

**In this chapter, I did a little bit of a time lapse. Reo passed out from blood loss in Soul Society, so she missed a few things. Inaba made his way to the World of the Living, as well as many of the Captains of the Gotei Thirteen. At this point in the Invading Army Arc, there are a few Captains left in Soul Society, and the rest are in the human world protecting Nozomi. **

**Reo wakes up in Ichigo's old room, and finds Toshiro waiting for her to wake up. Ichigo tries to explain to her just who she is, but Reo is in denial, and escapes out of the window to find her father- someone she trusts- to explain things to her. Still weak from her blood loss, Reo finds it difficult to maneuver through Karakura Town. She eventually stumbles into Hiro, and at first she's relieved to find her sister, but she's startled to find that Hiro has slowly been remembering things about their past life and keeping it a secret. Hiro also reveals that she has been in contact with Inaba, and she implores Reo to join them. When Reo refuses, Hiro materializes the blade that Reo continues to see in her dreams, and Hiro threatens her.**

**Keep your eyes open for the next chapter, and please review and let me know what you think!**


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